Si Vis Amari, Ama
by Toomi
Summary: Continuation to Non Est Ei Similis. Several Goa'uld, including Ba'al, seem to be up to no good as Sam and Jack try to start anew. SJ
1. Chapter 1

_This is the continuation of the story Non Est Ei Similis._

_Disclaimer: I own no part of the Stargate Universe._

Sam opened the sliding glass door to the deck, and could not feel more content. Several children were chasing each other around the back yard, Teal'c and a hose the cause of their shrieking. Daniel was deep in conversation with several of the SGC scientists, and Cam was talking to several of the members of various SG teams. Sam was happy with the turnout to her housewarming BBQ. She had invited many members of the SGC and their families for a potluck BBQ, and most had showed up. Daniel had suggested a potluck, so Sam wouldn't have to worry about preparing a huge amount of food, and it had turned out much better than she had expected. In fact, there was so much food, that Sam was worried that they wouldn't be able to eat most of it.

She passed a beer to Jack, who was manning the BBQ, and he gave her hand a slight squeeze in thanks.

"Are you planning on turning them into charcoal like the last batch?"

"Hey, I was distracted."

"By what?" Sam gave Jack the most sceptical look she could muster, given that she couldn't stop grinning.

"Well, you see, there's this woman around..." Sam blushed at Jack's comment, not quite used to the new direction in their relationship.

"Jack..."

"I know, couldn't help myself." He grinned mischievously at her, then turned his attention back to the burgers.

"Hey Sam, you wanna come help me here?" Daniel called to her across several heads.

"I'll be back, gotta go save Daniel's ass again." Sam grinned as she walked away, trying to dispel the redness that was probably still lingering in her face.

Several hours later, as the sun began to set, the remaining groups of people started to leave, thanking Sam for a great evening. Several of the SGC members with small children had left earlier, and the guests had started to disperse shortly after. By the time the starts were the only light in the sky, only the members of SG-1, and Jack remained. Teal'c and Jack had built a fire pit earlier that morning, and now that all the children were gone, Sam felt it safe enough to light the fire. As the flames started licking hungrily at the sticks of wood, Teal'c stood up abruptly, and walked to the front of the house. Jack went to get a few more beers, and as he returned, so did Teal'c, carrying a box.

"What'cha got there T?"

"I have the items you requested, O'Neill." Sam, Daniel, and Vala looked at Jack, curious.

"Requested? I don't remember..."

"It was earlier today when you discussed the purpose of having a fire in one's backyard." Teal'c placed the box next to where he was sitting, and Daniel stuck his hand in.

"Marshmallows?"

"T? You didn't!"

"What is going on here?" Vala leaned over Daniel, knocking his beer out of his hand, to see what the box contained. She pulled out a long metal stick, with a wooden handle on one end.

"Teal'c, where did you learn about roasting marshmallows over the fire?" Daniel took the roasting stick away from Vala, to avoid any unfortunate accidents.

"O'Neill explained this Tau'ri tradition of cooking these white candies over a fire."

"It was something that me 'n Charlie would do." In the flicker of the firelight, Sam could see a wave of sadness flash over Jack's face, and felt her heart go out to him. She stood up, walked over to the box, and rummaged around until she felt something familiar.

"Graham crackers! Is there chocolate in there?" Sam exclaimed as she recognized the box of crackers.

"Indeed."

"Teal'c, you got this idea from Jack?" Daniel was holding the chocolate away from Vala, who after relinquishing the roasting stick, had found the chocolate.

"Yes. I have never participated in such a ritual, and thought that Vala Mal Doran might also enjoy the experience."

"Thanks Teal'c." Teal'c nodded his head at Vala, as Daniel tossed the chocolate over to Jack.

"Daniel, how many sticks are in there?" Cam inquired.

"Uh, three. Here." Daniel passed one to Cam, and another to Jack, who hesitated before accepting.

"Is there any other strange traditions that go along with this?" Vala asked Daniel, while Cam snorted.

"Uh, not that I'm aware of."

"Jackson, you're forgetting the ghost stories." Cam accepted the open bag of marshmallows from Jack.

"Ohh, ghost stories?" Vala stopped trying to grab the roasting stick away from Daniel as her attention turned to Cam.

"Yeah, sit around a fire, make smores, tell ghost stories, and try to scare the crap out of each other."

"You forgot the pranks." Jack spoke again, any trace of his earlier sadness gone.

"Pranks?" Vala's attention switched to Jack, as the marshmallows passed to Daniel.

"Yeah. Silly things that kids do to each other, you know, the hand in a bowl of water, cow dung in the sleeping bag." Jack grinned as he spoke, looking directly at Daniel as he did.

"Cow dung?" Now it was Sam's turn to question Jack.

"Something I did during my youth." Jack turned to Sam, ignoring the glare that Daniel was sending his way.

"Any more beer in there?" Cam finished roasting his marshmallow, passed the roasting stick to Teal'c.

"There's plenty. Jack made sure of that." Sam grinned as she remembered trying to fit several bowls of jello,salads and other various deserts, in the fridge, cursing the beer that had taken it over.

"Sir, need another?" Jack nodded at Cam, who stood up and walked towards the house.

"I am also in need of refreshment."

"There's plenty of juice in the fridge, Teal'c."

"Sam, I need to use your bathroom." Vala leaned over Daniel to whisper at her.

"Uh, through the living room, on the right."

"Me too." Jack stood up, and followed Vala inside. Daniel sat back, and stared at Sam, his marshmallow forgotten.

"So, things good between you and Jack?" Daniel hadn't missed it when Jack had given Sam his first finished smore.

"Uh, yeah." Sam coughed out, her sip of beer going down the wrong pipe at Daniel's question.

"You guys get everything figured out?"

"Yup."

"Soooo." Daniel was trying to find out what exactly the two of them had figured out. He had his answer as he watched a small smile slowly form on Sam's face. "About time."

"Daniel!"

"What's he doing now?" Sam blushed as she heard Jack's voice from the deck.

"Nothing Jack. Just commenting to Sam on how well everything has gone with her move." Sam caught Daniel's double meaning, and felt her face continue to redden. Daniel winked at Sam as Jack returned to his seat, beer in hand.

It was late when Teal'c and Cam left, Cam grabbing a ride with Teal'c as his car was in the shop again for repair. Daniel and Vala stayed for a while longer until Vala couldn't stop yawning. Daniel helped Jack pack up the foldable chairs, forcing himself not to pry into Jack's current line of thinking regarding Sam. Vala and Sam emerged from the house, Vala carrying a bowl with some of the macaroni salad she had raved about earlier that afternoon. Once they had left, Sam and Jack returned to the fire, and took a seat on the grass. Sam placed her head on Jack's shoulder, his arm around her, and they stayed like that, no words required, as they watched the fire burn out.

_AN: You like? Want more? Let me know..._


	2. Chapter 2

Sam woke up early, despite her late night. As she wandered into the kitchen, she ran through a mental list of all the things she wanted to get done. Her vacation was almost finished, and in two days she'd be back at the base, catching up on the two weeks she had been away. Sam opened the dishwasher to get a clean mug, and groaned as she realised she had forgotten to turn it on the previous night. Washing the mug, she grinned as she recalled what had distracted her from the dishwasher.

Starting the coffee brewing, Sam glanced at the boxes with empty beer bottles and pop cans that Jack had organized for her. After the fire had gone out, he had helped her clean up her kitchen, then left for Daniels. Sam had thought about offering him the spare room, but his taxi arrived before she could voice her thoughts. As he left, he had given her a hug, and kissed her forehead. Sam had fallen asleep grinning.

* * *

Jack woke up when he heard Daniel clattering around in the kitchen. He rolled out of bed, groaning at the time. He hadn't gotten back to Daniel's place until after 0200, and it had taken him longer than usual to fall asleep. He shuffled into the kitchen, and was immediately handed a cup of steaming coffee. Nodding at Daniel, he sat down, and stared at the table, contemplating going back to bed. 

"What time did you get in last night?"

"Uh, late. Not too sure what time." Jack cleared his throat after speaking his first words of the day.

"Coffee ok?" Jack took a sip at Daniel's question, and grimaced at the bitterness.

"Yeah, it's fine. You got plans today?"

"Not really. I was waiting to see what you wanted to do."

"I gotta make a few phone calls first." Jack knew who he wanted to spend the day with, but wanted to check what her plans were first, see what she was up to.

"Oh. You leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, plane leaves at 1400. Can I grab a ride?"

"You need to ask?"

"Thanks Daniel." Jack swallowed the last few gulps of coffee, and headed back to the spare room. In a few minutes, Daniel heard the shower running.

* * *

Sam was about to leave the bathroom after her shower, when she heard the phone ring. She ran to the phone in her bedroom, hoping it was Jack. When she answered, it was Daniel's voice that came down the line, wondering if she had any plans for the day. He pointed out that considering Jack was in town, and they all had the day off, why not do something as a group? He could pick up Sam, and let Teal'c know where they were meeting. Sam considered his proposal, but remembered her list of things to do today. Plus, she wanted to spend some time with Jack, and only Jack. She gave Daniel a 'perhaps later', and hung up, determined to get everything done as soon as she could. That way, if Daniel called again, she could go if she didn't have any other plans.

* * *

The second Daniel stepped into the now vacant bathroom, Jack grabbed the phone. It's not that he didn't want Daniel to know what was going on, he just wasn't sure what Sam wanted others to know. He was thrilled beyond words that their revived friendship had gone up a notch, and hoped Sam felt the same. They hadn't had an actual discussion about what had changed, but he felt that words weren't needed. Daniel's comment about Sam being perhaps a little scared to enter a new relationship stayed in Jacks thoughts. He didn't want to rush her into anything, and decided to take it slowly until she indicated otherwise. 

He heard the shower start to run, and dialed Sam's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sam, it's Jack."

"Hi." Jack wondered if she was smiling the smile he liked to think was for him.

"Uh, didn't wake ya, did I?"

"No. Been up for a bit."

"Ah. Umm, you got any plans for today?"

"I told Daniel that I had some things to do."

"Daniel?" Jack didn't remember Daniel mentionning any plans for the day.

"Yeah, he called not too long ago."

"Ah, when I was in the shower. Do you really have things to do today?"

"Yes, but they won't take long."

"Uh, youwannadosomething?" Jack suddenly felt like an awkward teenager asking a girl out, and coughed to try cover his embarrassment.

"Sure. Any ideas?"

"Well, I could always come help you out. You'll be done much faster that way."

"Actually, I could use a hand. I want to get all these bottles to the recycling center, but I can't drive."

"I don't have a car here, maybe I can borrow Daniels."

"Ok, then what?"

"Uh, well, uhhh..." Jack had no idea of what to do, he just wanted to spend time with Sam.

"How bout we figure that out later. Come on over when you can."

"Kay, see ya in a bit."

Jack hung up and ran his hand through his now dry hair, relieved the conversation was over. He laughed at himself for getting so nervous, and hoped she hadn't picked up on it. He was a battle hardened General, for cryin' out loud, and he gets nervous asking Sam to spend the day with him! What the hell was that! He stood up, and wrote a quick note to Daniel, saying he was going out for a while, and if they wanted to meet for dinner, to give his cell phone a call.

* * *

Less than an hour after Sam got off the phone with Jack, her doorbell rang. Opening the door she was surprised to see him here that quickly. 

"Hi, come in." Sam closed the door behind Jack, after looking for Daniel's car.

"I walked."

"Oh, Daniel busy?"

"Uh, yeah." Daniel had been in the shower, and that counted for busy, didn't it?

"I'm almost done inside, just wanted to finish clearing up the yard. Missed some of the garbage last night."

"Sounds good."

Jack followed Sam outside, and the two cleared up the deck, and yard. As they carried the folding chairs into the garage, Jack started asking Sam about the car.

"Sweet car, why'd you go with this one?"

"I was considering something new, like a hybrid, but this one seemed to scream 'buy me', so I did. Plus it gives me something to do while I'm home, fixing it up."

"Didn't you used to have a bike?"

"Yeah, sold it."

"Sold it! That thing was your baby!"

"Yeah, well, times change." Sam dropped the chairs she was carrying with more force than necessary. Jack guessed he'd hit a nerve, and changed the topic.

"You said you wanted to take the bottles in?"

"Yes, but I can't drive."

"I can. Does this thing run?" Jack gestured at the car.

"Of course it runs..." Sam hesitated. Did she want Jack to drive her car?

"I'll be good, I swear. No speeding, nothing stupid." Sam sighed before answering.

"Ok. But I'm coming with you."

"Sounds good, grab the keys, I'll open the door."

Sam returned from locking her house, with the keys, and tossed them to Jack. He eagerly unlocked the door for her, and dashed around to the drivers side. After adjusting the seat to his height, he started the engine. He glanced at Sam, gripping her seat tightly, and placed his hand over hers.

"Don't worry. I'll take care."

Some of her tension left her, and he removed his hand to shift into reverse.

* * *

Jack's cell phone rang as he pulled back into the garage. Turning off the ignition, he answered. Sam got out, and walked towards the house. Jack had been careful, to her relief. She trusted him, but this was her new baby, and besides Daniel, the only other person to drive it while she had owned it. She had been angry at Daniel for a few seconds when he had driven it to her house, but that anger dissipated at his thoughtful gesture. Had Daniel asked her permission, she probably wouldn't have granted it, and the car would still be sitting in the base parking lot. 

"Who was that?" Jack had returned from the garage.

"Daniel. Have you ever considered an automatic garage door opener?"

"What did he want, and yes, I have. Just haven't gotten around to it yet." Sam asked her question, and answered Jack's.

"He wants to go for dinner tonight. Why not? It'd be much easier to get in and out of your garage."

"What did you say to Daniel, and it wasn't high up on my priority list given I can't drive."

"I told him I'd let him know. We should go get you one." Jack wanted to end their two topic discussion.

"Do you want to go out? Before I install a garage door opener, the door needs some work." The garage was built when the original house had been, and the door stuck as it went up and down the tracks.

"I noticed it wasn't running on the tracks smoothly."

"Jack, you didn't answer my question, and I've got someone coming to take a look at the door tomorrow morning."

"What do you think?"

"About the garage or Daniel's invitation?

"The latter."

"I dunno." Sam was torn between the ideas of having dinner with her closest friends, or spending the evening alone with Jack. While going out with the original SG-1 was always a recipe for a great night out, she did want to spend time getting to know Jack differently than she had before.

"Well, how bout we go for dinner, then go see a movie or something, just the two of us." Jack was thinking along the same lines as Sam. Her response was to smile gratefully at him, so he took that to be a yes, and dialed Daniel's number.

* * *

When Daniel's car pulled up to her house, Sam was waiting at the door. She was locking the door as Jack walked up the sidewalk to her house. 

"Hey."

"Hi. You guys figure out where we're going?"

"Yeah, O'Malley's."

"Jack, we always go there. There's so many great restaurants in this city, why don't we try somewhere new?"

"It wasn't my decision." Jack threw up his hands in his defense.

"Teal'c's? We've got to get him out more. I know that O'Malley's lets us sit in the back so we can have some privacy, but we've got to start going new places. Their menu is getting a little boring after all these years."

"Uh, actually, Teal'c's not coming."

"Why? What happened?" Sam became concerned immediately, as Teal'c generally loved the team outings, as much as she could tell.

"Bra'tac needed some help, so Teal'c left."

"Oh. So it's just us three?"

"Not exactly." As Sam turned to ask Jack for an explanation, the back window rolled down, and a familiar head poked through.

"Hi Sam. Hurry up, I'm starving."

"Vala!"

"Yeah, I had the same reaction. Feels weird, like a double date or something." Jack spoke quietly, so Vala wouldn't hear.

"Jack, don't say that to her. You'll give her all sorts of ideas, and Daniel would never forgive you." Jack grinned evilly at Sam as he opened the car door for her. As Sam climbed in, she was struck by what Jack had said. While Jack hadn't called their evening a date, specifically, what he said could have meant just that.

* * *

As dinner ended, Sam glanced at her watch. What had felt like barely an hour, was in fact three, and she was amazed at how well the evening had gone. There had been many topics to talk about, ranging from teasing Vala when she missed an Earth joke or comment, to somewhat serious discussions about the SGC. They had to be careful of what they said in public, and even though Vala was living on the base for the time being, she wasn't privy to all the information surrounding the missions like the others. 

The bill paid, Daniel made a quick exit with Vala, her unofficial curfew being his excuse. Sam raised an eyebrow at Jack, who gestured with his beer, that he had nothing to do with it. He took the last gulp from his glass, and stood up.

Neither one was interested in seeing a movie, so they took a cab back to Sam's house, both trying to think of what they could do once they were there. Sam voiced an idea that seemed appealing to her.

"Jack, there's a park close to my house. Feel like a little walk?"

"Can you? I mean with the brace an' all?"

"Yeah, for a short time. You up for it?"

"Sure." Jack would've agreed with Sam on almost anything she had suggested. Sam asked the driver to stop at the park instead of her house.

"You'll like it. There's plenty of trees." Sam snickered as Jack rolled his eyes at her.

"You gonna be warm enough?" Sam had not worn a coat, but had a sweater with her, as the evenings were still pleasant.

"I'll be fine. I've not been to this park yet, but it seems pretty large."

"Planning out running routes?"

"Sorta. I know there's a playground, a small man-made lake, and lots of walking paths."

The cab pulled over, and Jack paid the driver as Sam got out. They started walking at an easy pace, an uncomfortable silence hanging between them.

"Anything juicy going on between Daniel and Vala that I should know about?" Jack broke the quietness surrounding them.

"Juicy? Define juicy."

"Any and all information or gossip that I can use against him." Jack rubbed his hands together in an evil gesture.

"I can't speak for the gossip, I know there many rumours about the two of them when Daniel returned from Atlantis. Something about her being pregnant. But it's all just hot air."

"C'mon, nothing?"

"Nope. You know Daniel, he befriends everyone, and Vala needs someone to talk to sometimes. Most everyone else leaves her alone." Sam had seen Daniel and Vala together, and while there was a basis for a friendship growing, that was all, despite the rumours.

"Damn."

"Why? What've you got against them?"

"Nothing, just wanted some blackmail material."

"What in the wide world would you want blackmail material for?"

"Just in case. It can always come in handy."

"Don't you already have enough on him? What about those pictures..."

"Still got 'em." Jack interrupted Sam.

"Why do you want gossip on Daniel and Vala? What about that streak there where he had some woman fall in love with him on each planet we went to?"

"That was years ago, and I've used all of those already. Need some new material."

"But why do you want gossip on them?"

"Because the second I walk into Daniel's apartment I'm going to be bombarded with questions about tonight." He spoke using a light tone, but getting to a point he wanted to discuss with Sam.

"Oh." Sam stopped, and it took Jack a few steps to realise she wasn't with him anymore. He stepped towards her so he was facing her, and cursed the lack of light, as he couldn't clearly see her reaction on her face.

"You ok?" Jack was concerned that Sam's leg was bothering her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

"You wanna go sit? There's swings over there." Sam couldn't help a smile forming at the eagerness in his voice.

"Sure." They walked to the deserted playground, and each took a swing. Sam absentmindedly used her good leg to push herself back and forth a few degrees, while Jack treated the swing like a new favorite toy, and energetically swung back and forth.

"Wanna push?"

"That's ok. Jack, actually, you've got a good point."

"Me? What did I say now?"

"Daniel. Not just Daniel, people at the SGC, friends. They're all going to have questions about...us."

"Us?" Jack put his foot down firmly, glad that Sam had seen what he had been trying to say.

"Whatever it is we're doing right now."

"Sam..."

"Jack, I don't want to say anything to anyone right now, as I'm not too sure myself what's going on. We never really talked about it."

"Then we'll talk."

"Here?" Sam looked around as if expecting Daniel to jump out of the kids area.

"Why not? There's no one around to hear us, and we're not yelling at each other...yet. Sam, I want you to know, that this thing we're doing, isn't just a flash in the pan for me. I want this, and I want to do this properly. No more hiding, no more games, just you and me."

No words came to Sam's mind at Jack's admission. What he had just voiced was more than she had expected to come from the man who always hid his emotions so well, he gave the phrase 'face of stone' a whole new meaning.

"Sam?" Jack thought he had said the wrong thing when she didn't respond.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting that. I'm at a loss for words."

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"Good." Sam turned to face him, and in the dim light illuminating the playground, Jack saw a tenderness in her eyes, that he hadn't seen before.

"Glad we got that sorted out."

"There is one more thing."

"Shoot."

"It's not that I don't want to let anyone know about...us, but I would prefer it if we kept it quiet for now."

"Sure. No problem." Jack was relieved that Sam had mentioned that, as he wasn't sure what she wanted.

"I want to take it slow, and get used to an 'us' before I start telling people. If that's ok with you."

"Sam, that's more than ok with me. Just let me know who you tell, when you tell them, so I don't run around denying anything true."

"Ok. Thanks Jack."

"For what?"

"Understanding."

Sam yawned, followed shortly by Jack.

"Tired?"

"A little."

"C'mon." Jack held out his hand to Sam, who took it, and they walked back to Sam's house, hands still linked.

* * *

After seeing Sam back to her house, Jack walked back to Daniels. It wasn't that much of a walk, and he didn't feel like taking a cab, or calling Daniel for a ride. Once he arrived at Daniels apartment building, he checked to see if any lights were on, as if Daniel was awake, Jack knew he was in for a questioning. Not seeing any, he walked up the stairs to the apartment, and quietly opened the door. He took off his shoes, and silently walked to the spare room. He got four strides from the door, when his shins connected something solid, and a loud crashing sound filled the room. Instantly a light turned on. 

"What's goin on." Daniel mumbled sleepily from the couch.

"Nothin Danny. Go back to sleep." Jack hissed at him.

Daniel sat up and groped for his glasses, which had fallen off onto the floor. After taking Vala back to the SGC, Daniel had returned home, wondering what Jack and Sam were doing. He hoped that Jack would fill him in when he arrived home, but didn't know if he would be awake himself. He had turned off the lights, after placing the side table, with several unbreakable objects on top, directly in Jack's path to the spare room. One of Jack's strong points was stealth, and if Daniel fell asleep, he would never wake up when Jack arrived.

"Jack, how was your night?"

"Fine. Yours?" Daniel didn't miss the slight grin that appeared on Jack's face.

"Good. You and Sam have a good time?"

"Daniel..." Jack had been trying to avoid this very situation.

"So what's going on between you two? Are you guys trying something new?" Daniel was curious, and it was two of his closest friends that he had hoped, for a long time, would act on their feelings.

"Daniel, please..."

"You did! That's great!"

"Daniel." Jack raised his voice and that got Daniel's attention.

"Sorry."

"Look, Sam doesn't want people knowing yet. Don't say anything."

"Jack, I won't."

"Thank you. Now, if I may, I would like to get some sleep."

"G'night Jack."

"Night Daniel. Oh, are there any more traps waiting for me?"

"Traps? Uh, don't know what you're talking about."

"You always were a lousy liar." Jack shut the door behind him, and fell onto the bed. Despite his shins throbbing, he wasn't mad at Daniel. He was a naturaly inquisative person, and he had been expecting something like that. He would have to remember to tell Sam in the morning, as she'd get a good laugh out of it.

_AN: Thanks for all the great reviews and PM's for the last chapter. I'm humbled that so many of you returned to read more... Next chapter will start to deal with some of the story plots from Non Est Ei Similis. _


	3. Chapter 3

Sam was happy to be back at work, even though the last few days had been amazing. Jack had left the previous afternoon, but had stopped by with Daniel to say goodbye in person, before leaving. He hadn't made any specific plans on when he was coming for another visit, but told her that he would call her later in the day.

She sank into the chair in her lab, and opened her laptop, anticipating many emails that would require reading. Halfway through, Daniel sauntered in, bringing her a cup of fresh coffee.

"Hey. You're early." Sam accepted the offered cup of coffee, and turned back to the laptop.

"Vikki gave me a ride, and I wanted to get an early start. What are you doing here?"

"General Landry called me in. Teal'c checked back in. The Free Jaffa had a lead on Ba'al."

"And?" Sam whirled around to face Daniel.

"They went on a wild goose chase."

"Teal'c said that?"

"Well, not in as many words, but pretty much. They went to the planet where he was supposed to be, and the locals told the Jaffa that Ba'al had left."

"Left? Without terrorizing them?" Sam looked as puzzled as Daniel.

"Yeah. He came, wandered around, and dialed another planet, after hinting at the locals where he was going. Teal'c followed the hint, and found another planet with the same experience."

"That's weird. Any reports on how he acted?"

"Teal'c reported that one planet they visited, claimed that Ba'al was acting disoriented, not quite sure where he was."

"Remember when Loki cloned Jack?"

"You're talking about the 'mini'- Jack?" Daniel grinned at the memory of the sassy boy that sauntered in, claiming to be Jack.

"The clone would've died without the Asgard coming to his rescue. What if Ba'al's clones are becoming 'ill', for a lack of a better word, and starting to die?"

"I didn't think of that. If that's true, then all the other clones should be starting to do the same thing. This'll make it much easier to tell which Ba'al is the real one, if we can find him. I gotta go tell General Landry about this. I'll be back later." Daniel walked towards the door.

"Wait, will you need help?"

"I'll call you if we do."

* * *

Sam returned home the same way she arrived, thanks to Vikki. Sam was pleased to see that Vikki was slowly starting to recover from whatever had happened. She inquired as to Scott's whereabouts, and was told he had the flu, and had been sick for two days. Vikki made jokes about Scott behaving like a baby over an illness, and Sam remembered when Pete had had the flu. He too had acted like the world was coming to the end, even though he had only had a mild bout. She was halfway through a sentence sympathizing with Vikki before she realized what she was saying.

"Sam, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just didn't mean to say that."

"You were talking about someone who acted the same as Scott is. Why would that be a bad topic to discuss?"

"It's something I don't talk about. Someone in my past." Sam looked down at her hands.

"Ah, bad relationship. We've all had those."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey, there's this guy who works on one of the upper floors. He was asking about you the other day." Vikki turned briefly to look at Sam, then turned back to concentrate on the road.

"Really? Who?"

"Dunno. He knew you, was asking where you got to. Maybe he's interested in you?" Sam rolled her eyes at Vikki's statement.

"Nah. No thanks."

"You seeing someone, or just not wanting anything right now?"

"Yes." Sam didn't specify which question she answered, and changed the topic. "When do you think Scott will be back?"

"By the end of the week. It's not too bad, he's just not taking it like a man." Sam laughed as Vikki did an imitation of her fiance whining about being sick.

When Sam walked through the door, she noticed the phone blinking. She ran over and dialed the phone to check the message.

"Hey, uh, didn't want to call you at work, and I guess that's where you still are. It's Jack, er, just callin' to say hi. Uh, give me a call when you get in, if you want to."

Sam smiled and dialed his number.

"O'Neill." He sounded like she had woken him up.

"Hi. Did I wake you?"

"Uh, no." He was lying, she knew it.

"You called earlier?"

"Yeah, figured you'd get the message at home, as opposed to leaving one for you at the base."

"So, what's up?" Sam was relieved he hadn't left a message at the base. She didn't want to have any questions or rumours floating around just yet.

"Just wanted to compare schedules, see when you're free."

"Well, usually I'm off on Sundays, but I can usually take a day off if there's nothing going on. I either take Monday or Saturday off."

"Really? Sam Carter taking two days off in one week? How and when did this miracle occur?" Jack was mocking her, and she could hear the laughter in his voice.

"I'm trying to. Sometimes I get a little caught up in my work."

"Next weekend, uh, I've got a few meetings scheduled, wow, most of the weekend apparently. How 'bout the weekend after. I'll head down on Friday, stay till Sunday."

"Sounds good."

A visit scheduled, they continued talking about anything that came to mind. It was late when Sam hung up, having eaten supper while talking to Jack. Glancing at the clock she winced for Jack's sake. She had forgotten about the time difference, so he would be getting less sleep than he probably wanted.

* * *

The next few days passed quietly, almost too quietly. Scott had yet to arrive back at work, and SG-1 had joined Teal'c and Bra'tac tracking down the dying clone. Sam had spent the previous two nights at the base, doing some research on the information they had about Jack's clone. General Landry had asked her if she wanted to contact the boy, and have him tested to see if he held any clues to what the Asgard had done to 'fix' him. Sam had told the General that right now, that wasn't necessary. She was reluctant to contact the clone, as when he had left the base, they were supposed to end all contact. Sam guessed that he would be around 20 now, and if he followed Jack's footsteps, would be in the Air Force by now.

The phone rang in her lab, startling her out of her musings. Answering it, she heard General Landry giving orders in the background. She hobbled off to the gateroom at Walter's request, and found SG-3 ready to embark.

"What's going on here, Sir?"

"We've recieved word that SG-16 was captured, after exploring one of the planets the Ba'al clone was supposed to have gone to. SG-3 is going to the Alpha site to meet SG-1, and get the full story."

"What about SG-1?" Sam felt a lump begin to grow within her stomach.

"They're fine. I told them to stay put at the Alpha site, wait for SG-3 to arrive."

"Why do you need me?"

"Bra'tac wants to send the body of the clone Ba'al back to Earth."

"They have a clone?"

"One of the Jaffa teams, lead by Bra'tac, helping us search the planets, found him. He was already dead."

Landry turned back to the gateroom, and started issuing orders to SG-3. Dr. Lee joined Sam, and she filled him in on what Landry had told her. Shortly after SG-3 left, the gate activated, and Bra'tac, with several other Jaffa, arrived, carrying a body. Sam directed them to place the body on a gurney, and several scientists wheeled it towards one of the medical labs. She stayed behind to talk to Bra'tac, and followed as General Landry motioned them all towards the briefing room. Bra'tac took a seat, while the three other Jaffa stood by the window, overlooking the stargate.

"Bra'tac, what happened?"

"We arrived at the planet and discovered the villagers in a state of distress. They informed us that Ba'al had been in the village several days before, and they had chased him away. The inhabitants knew him from before, as it had been a planet ruled over by Ba'al. They panicked and hid from him, watching as he entered the village. One man claimed Ba'al seemed ill, and unsure of where he was going. A child threw a toy from one of the houses, and when Ba'al did not react, the others joined in."

"So they tormented him? Did they kill him?" Landry questioned Bra'tac, while Sam listened.

"I do not believe they killed him. The man we spoke to told us that Ba'al collapsed before he could leave the village. They dragged him to the forest and left him there."

"Didn't they worry that Ba'al would recover and come after them?" Sam had a hard time believing that the villagers would leave him alone and unwatched.

"It appears that during the night, Ba'al recovered sufficiently to leave, and that is why the villagers were distressed. We offered our assistance in searching for him, and found him located a days walk from the village. He was dead when we found him." Bra'tac finished, and stood up, pacing around the table.

"Why bring him here, not that we don't appreciate it, but wouldn't you normally have taken his body back to Dakara?" General Landry nodded his approval of Sam's question.

"I do not believe it wise to bring the clone to Dakara at this point in time." Sam opened her mouth to ask why, but General Landry interrupted her.

"As Dr. Carter stated, we are grateful you brought the body back here."

"I can not stay much longer. We must return to Dakara and inform the council of what has occurred." Bra'tac swept out of the room, followed by the three Jaffa, who had not spoken a word the entire time. Moments later, Sam could hear the gate dialing, and headed off to join the scientists and the body of Ba'al.

* * *

Several hours later the word spread around the base that SG's 1 and 3 had missed their scheduled check in. The lump in Sam's stomach grew larger, and she excused herself to go find out what was going on. General Landry couldn't tell her much, other than the MALP had been disabled, so they couldn't get a visual. There had been no communication over the radios, and he had given orders to keep dialing the gate at one hour intervals, to see if they could establish any communication.

Sam returned to the lab to find the other scientists calling it a night. She wandered back to her lab, and tried in vain to get some work done. Not able to concentrate by 0100, she went to her room on the base, and spent the night doing very little sleeping, but a great deal of worrying.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam groaned as she glanced at the red light, illuminating the time. 0632 and she had barely slept a wink. Her mind was too active to even attempt further sleep, so she got up, showered and changed, hurrying to see if there was any further news. As she rushed down the nearly deserted corridors, the rational part of her brain told her that had anything happened to her friends, she would've been told. It didn't matter that she was't on SG-1 or any SG team, everyone knew the close friendship she shared with Daniel and Teal'c, and would have woken her if anything had occurred.

She knocked politely on General Landry's door, and entered when he waved her through the open door. He hung up the phone, and she asked about any new information. General Landry informed her that SG's 12 and 22 had gone to the Alpha and were currently trying to retrace where the three missing teams had gone. During their conversation, the klaxons sounded, alerting them all to an incoming wormhole. Sam followed Landry to the gateroom, and listened as Colonel Raimie checked in.

From the Colonel's report, the two teams had visited 3 planets with no sign of SG's 16, 3 or 1 there at that time. There were signs however, that several men from the teams had been to those locations, as material from the SG uniforms had been found caught on trees and various other natural obstacles near the gate. General Landry ordered the two teams to return to the base after finishing the sweep of the area, and they would debrief before deciding what to do next.

Sam left, knowing she would not be a part of the debriefing. She went to her scheduled appointment with Dr. Lam, then back to her lab. Not knowing what else to do, she dialed Jack's number at the Pentagon. After being informed that the General was on another phone call, she left a message. About to turn to her computer, Dr. Lee dashed in, startling her.

"Dr. Carter, we've found something." He gasped, out of breath.

"What?"

"We didn't think to look for it before. Chloe.."

"Chloe? As in Dr. Felger's..." Sam interrupted Dr. Lee, and he did the same to her.

"Yes. I know it's not her area of expertise, but Dr. Felger thought she should have a look at one of the samples we took from Ba'al, and she had something for us this morning." Dr. Lee was already on his way out of her lab, walking quickly towards the elevator.

"Dr. Lee. Wait. What did she find?" Sam caught up to him as he was waiting for the elevator, cursing the brace on her leg for slowing her down.

"Nanocytes."

"What!" Sam was appalled at his answer.

"Don't worry, they're inactive."

"Are you sure?" Sam remembered the times they had come into contact with the buggers, most memorable when Jack was infected.

"You'll see."

"Why didn't we catch this earlier?" Sam distinctly remembered scanning Ba'al's body for any electrical pulses, and nanocytes should've definitely registered.

"They seem to have broken down. They only exist as fragments of what we've seen before."

As the elevator doors opened on the level the tests on Ba'al's body were being conducted, Dr. Lee dashed off again, leaving Sam to hurry behind him. She entered the room and was directed over to a microscope. She peered through, and understood immediately what Dr. Lee was talking about. The nanocytes appeared to have broken into fractions of their original size, making them incredibly small.

"How did this happen?"

"We're not too sure at the moment, Dr. Carter." One of the other scientists answered Sam.

"Is this what killed him?"

"Right now, we can't tell exactly what killed him, but I bet that this has something to..."

Dr. Lee was interrupted by General Landry's voice over the base intercom, requesting a medical team to the gateroom, immediately. Sam, hoping SG-1 had been found, left the lab for the gateroom. By the time she arrived, whatever had caused the page, had gone, and Sam was standing in the gateroom, with only the SF's as company. She saw Walter wave her up, and walked up to the control room.

"What happened?"

"SG's 12 and 22 returned with Peterson from SG-3." Walter filled her in on what he knew.

"Did they find any of the others?"

"Not that I'm aware of. General Landry's in his office if you want to go check with him. He should be finishing talking to Colonel Raimie by now."

Sam thanked Walter, and went to see the General. As she walked up the steps, Colonel Raimie brushed lightly past her, barely noticing that she was there. Sam cautiously knocked on the General's door, and entered at his call.

"Dr. Carter, what can I do for you?" He looked tired, and worried.

"Uh, Sir, I was wondering if there were any signs of SG-1 yet?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Walter told me that Peterson was found, I was, er, kinda hoping he would have some information..."

"Lt. Peterson is currently in surgery."

"Thank you General." Sam left sensing that she would not be able to find out any more information.

* * *

Sam found herself sitting in the commissary, pushing her pasta around her plate, rather than eating it. She was lost in thought, and jumped when Colonel Raimie dragged a chair over to her table. 

"Hi. Been looking for you. Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to run right into you."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I could see you were in your own world. What happened?" Sam went straight to her point.

"We were waiting for SG 12 to return to the gate and heard something moving in the bushes surrounding the gate. We went to check it out, and found Peterson, literally crawling towards us. He told us that he was the only one and passed out."

"Landry said he was in surgery. Is he going to be ok?"

"Dr Lam thinks he will be. He was hit by a staff blast, but his vest stopped him from being killed then and there. The force of the blast caused some pretty bad internal bleeding and the doctors are patching him up right now."

"Thanks." Sam excused herself, and wandered up to her lab, needing something to keep her occupied. It didn't take her long to become completely absorbed in her work. She was so involved that she didn't hear the quiet knocking on her almost closed door, or the soft footsteps towards her desk. She jumped when she heard someone clear their throat.

"Hey."

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Sam was grateful that he was here, but wondered why he was.

"When I got the call that 3 SG Teams were missing, I had to come." Jack stated it simply, but Sam knew there was more behind the words.

"Peterson..."

"He's going to recover. How long you been in here?"

"Uh..."

"That's what I thought. Hungry? I am." The missing men weighed heavily on Jack's mind, but he wanted to make sure that Sam didn't slip into old habits of diving into work, for far too many hours, to distract her from whatever had happened. He smiled as she turned off the computer, and followed him to the door.

"So what is Landry planning on doing?" Sam hadn't heard any of the plans for a rescue, but assumed there would be one.

"Hank has scheduled a mission leaving in 6 hrs to go back to the planet where they found Peterson. It's dark there right now, and even with the night-vision goggles, we could easily miss something."

"We?"

"Yes. SG's 12, 22, 24 and myself."

"Why are you going?"

"I have to Sam. Three teams disappeared, seemingly into thin air. No one, for a second, thinks that this is any kind of coincidence, and the best way for me to find out what's going on, is to go with the search teams."

"Were you ordered to go?" Sam knew he was right, but some part of her wanted to know if he was doing this by choice.

"No. Not exactly." Jack didn't elaborate, and Sam didn't push for answers.

"If you're leaving, shouldn't you be getting some rest first?"

"I will. I wanted to stop by and say hi first, and check out if they had anything good to eat. I haven't had anything since lunch, so I'm starving." Jack shot Sam a lazy smile as the two entered the elevator.

During their late snack, Sam asked Jack how they were going to conduct a search that had spread across several planets so far. Jack revealed that when Peterson had emerged from the anesthesia after the surgery, he had informed General Landry of two possible worlds the Jaffa had taken SG's 1 and 3. Jack and the three teams going with him would check out those planets, after conducting another search around where Peterson was found. Using the remote control, they would send the MALP through first, to make sure there were no Jaffa guarding the gate, then follow through if it was safe to do so. If they found enemies waiting, they would assume they had found the planet, and gate home to Earth.

After they cleared up their trays, Jack headed off to a room set aside for his use, and Sam returned to her quarters, wanting to get some sleep before Jack left in a few hours. Trying to clear her mind of all the thoughts swirling around in there proved to be almost impossible. Her two closest friends, Daniel and Teal'c, were who knew where, in unknown conditions, and now Jack was leaving too. She completely understood why he was going, and had she still been in the Air Force she would've volunteered immediately. However, the fear that she would loose all of them, remained, and was her last thought as she drifted into an uneasy and restless sleep.

* * *

Her alarm woke her half an hour before Jack was to embark on his mission. She quickly showered, and made her way to the gateroom. The 12 men were armed and ready to go, milling around in the gateroom. Sam scanned the men, but couldn't find Jack. She looked up, and spotted him in the window from the briefing room. She made her way up as quickly as she could, and found Jack alone, pacing around the table. 

"Jack?"

"Sam. You didn't have to come."

"Course I did." Jack looked awkwardly around the room at Sam's comment. "Kinda weird huh. You going off on a mission, and me being the one staying behind." Sam attempted to keep a smile on her face, and a light tone to her voice, but heard herself fail. Jack took a quick look around the room before moving towards her. He pulled her into his arms for a short, but effective hug, and released her. As he left the room, he spoke in a quiet, but firm voice.

"I'll be back soon, and I'll have Daniel and Teal'c with me."

_AN: I broke my index finger on Monday, and when I type, I keep trying to use it. Unfortunatly, as it's in a splint, this results in much frustration and many many errors. I've managed to get this chapter out, and the next few are mostly written, just a case of editing, and final touches. Providing life at work doesn't go completely crazy this weekend like it did last weekend, the next few chapters should be quicker. Really, really sorry about the delay. Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. _


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Just a quick comment as this chapter contains references to torture, though nothing too graphic. Thanks to ATFan for the medical help._

Jack stepped through the wormhole after the other 12 men, and watched as the gate disengaged. Scanning the area, he pulled his sunglasses out of his vest pocket, readjusted the grip on his P-90, and stepped off the steps leading to the gate. He ordered each team to check out a specific area, near to where Peterson had been found, and placed himself with SG-22 and Colonel Raimie. The other two teams headed off, keeping out of the open areas, in case any Jaffa remained.

Jack and SG-22 searched the treed area, and found only a trail of broken branches and flattened grass. Checking in with the other teams only to find they had discovered nothing they hadn't seen the first time, Jack ordered them all back to the gate. The next world was dialed, and the MALP sent through, as soon as the thirteen men had regrouped. Jack watched the laptop screen closely, and not seeing any signs on the infra-red view, he ordered the men through, stepping through the event horizon first.

On the other side, Jack followed a similar procedure, securing the immediate area around the gate first. He ordered SG-24 to stay at the gate, while he, and the other two teams searched the area. This was a planet that the origional search teams for SG-16 had yet to visit, and was hoping that this one would reveal some intel. They only had one more planet to search that they knew for certain the missing members of the SGC had travelled to. After that, Jack had no idea on where they would go.

The nine men returned to the gate after several hours of hiking. They had found a small village, whose inhabitants had confirmed the arrival, and almost immediate departure of the Jaffa. Their missing men had been with the entourage, and one of the members of SG-22 discovered a pile of shoes and jackets thrown carelessly behind one of the crude huts. Jack searched through the articles of clothing, finding blood on several jackets. Not finding anything else, they trooped back to the waiting SG-24.

Once again, the MALP was sent through, after checking in with the SGC. Once the other side of the next planet was deemed 'safe', everyone walked through.

Jack immediately noticed the lack of trees in the immediate vicinity of the gate. It was a barren, stone, pit. Probably some form of mine or quarry many many years ago. In the distance a large stone building stood. The ground was disturbed in a path leading to the building, and Jack silently ordered the men to take that road. This time, SG-12 was left to keep the gate area secure.

As the group came close to the building, Jack decided it looked more like a castle. The walls were very tall, and each of the four corners had structures that resembled turrets. With a pang of sorrow, Jack couldn't help but wonder what Daniel's thoughts would have been if he had approached this place on a recon mission.

They entered cautiously through what seemed to be the only entrance, a giant archway facing the direction of the gate. Inside was a massive courtyard, taking up most of the space in the interior of the building. Entering a doorway to what appeared to have once been living quarters, Jack signalled SG-22 to take one direction, while he and SG-24 take the other. They searched through every room, finding fragments of clothing, blood, and hair. Jack, despite all the horrific things he had seen before, still felt his stomach drop at the sight of one particularly large blood trail, leading to another room.

He followed the trail to a tiny room with a small, reinforced door. Looking at the straw on the ground, Jack knew the door had been moved recently, and judging by the scratch marks on the metal lock, recently. He cautiously opened the door, and tried to see what was inside. The only light inside was from the sliver of outside light, not being blocked by his body or the door. Jack forced the heavy door open a little more, and immediately noticed a man, lying face down, several feet to his right. He moved forward, and reached out his hand to check for a pulse.

The man was cold, and Jack rolled him over with some difficulty as he was in an awkward position, rigor mortis had set in many hours ago. He pushed the button on his radio to inform the others, when he saw another figure curled up on the opposite wall. He walked the few feet, and felt for a pulse. There was one, week, but this man was alive. Not seeing any blood on the ground, Jack carefully moved the man onto his back and gaped as he registered who it was.

"SG-12. I need a medical team from the SGC here stat."

"Yes Sir." The voice crackled over the radio.

"Tell them I've got Colonel Mitchell here, and he's barely alive."

SG-22 came rushing to his aid, one of the members pulling out the first aid kit. Jack moved back to allow them space in the now crowded room. He walked out into the dim sunshine, as SG-24 came towards him. He immediatly ordered a complete search of every room, and behind ever door, in the building, wondering if there were any more SG members left for dead.

The search turned up nothing, and during that time, a medical team had arrived from the SGC and they took Mitchell back to the base. He had not regained consciousness and his head had continued to swell, concerning Jack greatly. He knew enough about head injuries, to know that it was a bad sign. The deceased man, Dr Jones of SG-16, was sent back to the SGC along with Cam, and the remaining men did a sweep of the area behind the building.

There was a small patch of dirt where wooden posts had been erected years before. As Jack walked around, Lt. Carlson hailed him. There was a drawing in the dirt, resembling a gate address. The address written down, and the SGC informed, the MALP was sent through to the that world.

Jack glared towards the trees. While they did provide ample cover, Jaffa could just as easily use it to hide in. The initial MALP readings had shown no sign of life around the gate, but Jack had a feeling that this time, there would be some resistance. He noted the footsteps and trampled grass leading towards the north of the gate. Wordlessly he ordered two teams to take the east and west side of the clearing, and another to stay by the gate.

Hearing movement, Jack and the team he was with, darted under the cover, guns pointed in the direction of the noise. It was a man, staggering, trying desperately to run. He seemed to have no sense of direction, and was lurching from one side to another. Jack waited until the man was closer to the trees before grabbing him, and pulling him towards relative safety. He was wearing an SG uniform and the man stared around, disoriented, and clearly fear-struck. Once his eyes focused on Jack's face, he seemed to calm a little. As he started to speak, Jack silenced him, not knowing if there were Jaffa chasing this man.

Sure enough, three Jaffa emerged from the trees, not seeming to be in any particular rush. Jack wondered at their strange behaviour. A man in Daye's condition usually couldn't get very far from the most disorganized group of Jaffa, and it was probably only on sheer adrenaline that he had made it that far. As the Jaffa searched the area carelessly, Jack checked Lt. Daye for injuries. He had a wound behind his ear that had bleed at some point, but seemed to have closed. He had several goose eggs on his head, and Jack assumed that the disorientation was caused by whatever had caused the lumps. He could see several superficial wounds on his arms, and his feet were cut from lack of shoes.

When Major Page reported that the Jaffa had left the area, he stood, and started the short trek back to the gate. Lt. Daye suddenly became alert and began to ramble.

"Bosco. You got him?"

"Bosco? Where is he?" Jack wondered if the escape had included more men.

"I was following him. In front of me."

"Where?"

"Trees." Daye stopped and started to look around, as if expecting Bosco to jump out and announce his arrival.

"Where there others with you?"

"No. Only freed me and followed him. Jaffa busy with others." Daye's legs gave underneath him, and Jack caught him before he fell.

"How many Jaffa? How many personnel?"

"Not many. Most left. Don't know where they went." Daye's eyes started to roll back into his head. "Dr. Jackson..."

Jack cursed as Daye passed out. Major Page and Lt. Erikson carried Daye back to the gate, and SG-12 accompanied the unconscious man back to the SGC. Jack mused over Daye's words. If some of the Jaffa had left, and there was still a possibility that their men were here, they had to get closer and attempt a rescue. Sending SG-22 ahead to scout, Jack and SG-24 waited for the return of SG-12, wanting as many people as possible if they were to attempt an attack and rescue.

Daye's last words worried Jack. What had happened to Daniel? Was Daye trying to tell him that Daniel was dead, or that he had been taken to another world? An unbidden thought of him telling Sam of Daniel's death surged forth, and he forced it back. He couldn't think about that right now. He told Sam he'd bring them back, and he would, if it was the last thing he would do.

When Jack and the two teams rejoined SG-22 it was starting to get dark. Peering through the trees with his binoculars, Jack could see a small camp, hurriedly put together. The tents were spread in a circle, with what appeared to be wooden poles erected around the outside. Chained to those poles were several SG personnel, hands above their heads. Jack scanned each man, trying to see a face, counting as he went. There were six men, and Jack could clearly recognize Colonel Reynolds, Bosworth, and Black of SG-3, and Major Fischer of SG-16. There was one other man, but he was turned slightly away, and his face was badly swollen and covered in blood. Jack's heart sank as it was apparent that none of the members of SG-1 were there.

As the sun set, they tried to come up with a plan to rescue their men, without killing them first. As they were on the outskirts of the camp, separated and helpless, any crossfire could kill them.

"General, whatever we do will risk their lives. We should try to free them before engaging the Jaffa." Captain Macleod commented.

"Major, I don't think that's an option. The Jaffa, while they seem to be unorganized, they are keeping an eye on the prisoners. I want to do this with as minimal a risk as possible."

"Sir, what about the Jaffa poison?" Colonel Rainies queried. Jack blinked. He had completely forgotten about the poison. It wasn't until recently that there had been any on the base, thanks to Sam's gas contraption.

"Do we have a way of getting it to them?"

"I'm sure Dr. Carter could figure something out."

"Ok. You take your team back to the SGC and see if you can get what we need. If the SGC contacts us, we'll let them know what we are thinking, see if they can have something ready for us."

Captain Macleod and SG-24 left, and Jack continued to make another plan, in case the poison idea didn't pan out.

* * *

The only light from the camp was from several small fires the Jaffa were using to cook their evening meal. Jack had used the past two hours to scout the area surrounding the camp, sending the men out in groups of two. Returning, everyone reported that the area did not provide any cover that was closer to the camps outer edges. Jack was becoming impatient. As SG-24 had been on their way back to the gate, General Landry had contacted them, and Jack had told him of their plan, hoping it would speed thing up. 

Apparently it was taking much longer than he anticipated to get the gas back to the planet. They were less than a half hours trek from the gate, so that meant SG-24 had been on Earth for over an hour and half. Reluctant to leave his current position and dial the gate to find out what was taking so long, Jack settled for watching every move the Jaffa made. He noted how much movement each prisoner had, and tried to asses their injuries, but it was difficult. Most of them had their hands tied above their heads on the pole, and two of them were slumped down. Jack could only hope that they were unconscious, as they hadn't looked in great shape.

The radio crackled into life announcing the return of SG-24. Jack hissed at them to hurry, as he wanted to get out of there.

Jack turned as he heard the team approach.

"What took so long?" Jack whispered.

"Had to get the stuff in these. Here." Colonel Sumner passed him several objects.

"Just throw?" Jack inspected the sandy coloured orbs, just smaller than a hand grenade.

"Pull the pin and throw. Dr. Carter said that it might only have a radius of about 10ft and we're unsure as to how long they'll be out."

"Might!" Jack rolled the spheres around in his hands, thinking of the best way to use them.

"She said that the gas might take a while to affect the Jaffa. About a minute or so."

"Kay, we should..."

Jack was interrupted by rustling sounds, and a mans voice cursing. He immediately looked towards the camp and in the light cast from the fire, he watched as two Jaffa dragged a man, wearing the telltale green uniform, towards the center of the camp. As most of the Jaffa gathered together, Jack saw an opportunity to use the globes in the most effective and strategic way possible. Signaling only a few men, Jack slinked towards the camp, staying as low as possible.

The Jaffa were too preoccupied with the new arrival to notice the five men approaching them. Jack wondered what Teal'c would have to say about the complete lack of discipline these Jaffa had, and mused as to why more prisoners hadn't escaped. As he got closer, he could clearly see the recently captured man. He, like the others, had no shoes, or jacket, and his exposed arms revealed several long gashes running down his arms. Jack couldn't see Bosco's face clearly enough to see if there were any injuries there.

When the Jaffa within the camp were standing together, Jack threw the first globe, shortly followed by the two others he held. He watched as several others flew through the air and exploded around the group. Immediately the Jaffa's staff weapons were pointing outwards, Bosco dropped to the ground, forgotten for now. Jack could hear the sounds of gunfire and staff weapons being discharged, and hoped that the men remaining in the trees could hold them away from his position.

Each of the five men were exposed, with only the tents to provide cover. Each man darted behind the nearest one, drawing exclamations of surprise from the conscious men attached to the poles. They started exchanging shots, trying to keep the staff weapons blasts from straying towards the prisoners. It felt like much longer than a minute, but the Jaffa started to drop to the ground. They picked off the last ones who were struggling to stay upright, and searched the tents for any more. As the gas would only temporarily detain the Jaffa for an undetermined amount of time, each Jaffa was killed. Jack radioed the teams in the trees and sighed with relief as all were safe and accounted for.

In total, 19 Jaffa had been killed. Jack couldn't be sure that they had got them all, and decided to get back to the SGC as soon as possible. He was the closest to Bosco, still lying on the ground, and walked over to him as the others freed the other men. Jack placed a hand on Bosco's shoulder, not sure if he was still conscious, and cautiously rolled him over. Bosco's eyes flickered to his face, and he calmly sat up. Jack could see that Bosco's face was riddled with bruises, and his one eye was almost swollen shut.

Once Jack was confident that Bosco would be able to walk, he helped him up and joined the others. The rescuers gave their jackets to the freed men, and used them to create something to protect their feet due to the lack of shoes. While Jack wanted to know what was going on, he preferred to get back to the gate and unravel the mystery back at the safety of the SGC. The group started the hike back to the gate, carrying those who were unable to walk, and taking it slowly for those that could.

* * *

Sam had heard that Cam and another man had returned to the base. Cam was currently in the infirmary, and when she had attempted to find out how he was, she'd been shooed away by a nurse. The other man, Dr. Jones, had been dead for a while. That information had spread around the base quickly, affecting the scientists Sam worked with, especially hard. He had been with the program for years, and it had only been his fourth mission as a member of SG-16. 

When Lt. Daye had arrived at the SGC, Sam had been in her office, deeply involved in her work. She had heard the announcement of the incoming wormhole, and after several minutes, placed a quick call to the control room to inquire what had happened. Thankful that another member of the SGC had been found, she returned to her research, trying to ignore the feeling in her gut that something wasn't quite right.

When Sam had received the call to come to General Landry's office, her heart had dropped. She had walked in the office, expecting to hear the worst, but instead being asked to create something that could deliver the gas on another world. Thankful that she was able to help Jack in some method, she got to work immediately. The idea for having portable gas had crossed her mind, but as it's effectiveness would depend on the environment at the time, she hadn't focused on it. She tried an idea she'd had a while back, inserting the gas into the small sphere's that another researcher had been developing for a hallucinogen. It had taken several attempts to get the gas into the sphere without it escaping immediately, but as soon as she had a dozen, she paged for Colonel Sumner to come get them.

Sam had accompanied Sumner down to the gateroom, and watched alongside Walter as the team returned to the planet. Finding out that no other teams were due to arrive, she made her way back to her lab, carefully documenting what she had just done for future reference. She was startled by a sharp knocking on the door frame, and turned to find Scott leaning against the door, smiling.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi. Didn't see you there."

"I just heard that SG-12 returned to the planet."

"Yeah." A thought suddenly crossed Sam's mind. "Weren't you down there?"

"No. I was with Vikki, uh, talking."

"About?"

"Nothing important." While Scott seemed to brush the question off, Sam felt that something wasn't right. She glanced at the clock briefly, trying to calculate when the teams would be expected to return. Given the information from Colonel Sumner, and taking into account that there would probably be wounded with them, but she estimated their arrival in half an hour.

"Hungry?" Sam wasn't herself, but thought that this way Scott might tell her what was going on. Plus it would help the time pass.

Sam barely touched the salad on her plate. Scott, however, was eagerly tucking in, shovelling food in at such a rate that conversation was not running smoothly. Her mind wandered back to Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. She worried about what could've happened, and how the attack on the Jaffa had gone. Thinking of Daniel, another thought popped into her head. Vala. While Sam was unsure as to how much she had been told, it was unlikely that anyone had mentioned that Daniel was missing. Excusing herself politely to Scott, she headed off to see Vala, assuming that with Daniel's absence, she would be alone, demanding to know where he was.

Almost at the elevator, the klaxons sounded, announcing the incoming wormhole. Instead of hitting the button for the floor Vala was staying on, she hit the floor for the gateroom. She arrived to find the SG teams filing out of the gateroom, several bloodied, and barely walking. She frantically scanned every face looking for Jack. Spotting him still in the gateroom, she stayed in the hallway, waiting for him to leave. When he finally emerged, he immediately spotted her, and stepped out of the conversation he was having with Colonel Sumners.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Those balls you sent, they worked real good."

"Good to hear. Where's Daniel and Teal'c?"

"We didn't find them." Jack felt like he had let Sam down, but hastened to reassure her. "Once we're done in the infirmary, we're debriefing Landry, then we'll be off again."

"Where?"

"From what Reynolds was telling us on the way, Daniel attempted to write the next location each time they were moved. We found a gate address in the dirt at one of the planets, but according to Reynolds, Daniel and Teal'c were immediately taken away and never went to the camp. When it's light there, we'll have to have a good look around the gate area, see if we can find anything."

"Oh. Can you find out how Cam's doing while you're at the infirmary? I couldn't get any information earlier."

"Sure, I'll do what I can." Jack too wondered how Cam, Peterson, and Daye were doing, and didn't want to have to inform any more families that someone had died.

At the elevator, Jack and Sam separated ways, Jack to the infirmary, Sam to see Vala.

Vala had been on Earth for several months, but still had issues following the rules of the base. Vala had been allowed to wander the base, with an escort, for some time, and even allowed off base for Sam's housewarming, and dinner with Daniel. Daniel had explained it to Sam as a reward for Vala's good behaviour. She seemed to have moments of maturity, followed by periods of mischievousness. Shortly after being allowed off the base for dinner, Vala had been in Daniels lab, and once again tried to attach the marriage bracelet to his wrist. Daniel had asked for them to be returned from Area 51 to do a further study on them, and Vala had seized her opportunity. Fortunately for Daniel, she had failed, and now was serving her punishment as Daniel had pleaded with General Landry for leiniency, based on the fact she wasn't used to Earth and the rules.

Now a guard stood outside her door, and she was only permitted to leave to use the bathroom, and take a shower. Her punishment was over the following day, but as Daniel was not on the base, Sam guessed that she had not had any visitors. Feeling guilty for not thinking of stopping by sooner, Sam asked the SF to open the door.

Vala's face fell slightly as Sam walked in the room, but immediately brightened at the thought of someone to talk to. Sam told Vala that Daniel had been delayed on the mission, as she didn't have approval from General Landry to tell her anything more. Vala became concerned and started asking many questions, all of which Sam couldn't answer. She would have to ask Jack if there was anything that she could tell Vala.

Sam didn't stay long with Vala as she wanted to find out from Jack what had happened. Making her way up to her lab, she assumed Jack would come and talk to her after the debriefing, and before he left to continue the search. It was almost 2 hrs later when he showed up.

"What's the plan?"

"We're going back in 5 hrs. Should be light then."

"What about the other Jaffa?"

"We left the MALP there and we can check to see if there's any activity while we're gone. I don't think there were any more, but you can never be too sure." Jack started fiddling with the pen on her lab table.

"How's Cam?"

"Surgery."

"What happened?" Sam's eyes opened wide.

"From what Reynolds and Black told us, Cam was beaten for mouthing off one of the Jaffa. I couldn't quite get all the medical crap the nurse started spouting off, but they're draining fluid out of his head right now. Daye's got a similar head injury, but it was more recent, and less severe, so he's going to be up and around quicker than Cam. Other than that, there's a collection of broken bones, lots of bruises and cuts, and dehydration. Peterson's going to be ok. They stopped the bleeding and he's still drugged up."

"That's good." Sam was relieved that no more lives had been lost.

"Yeah. Bosco was the least injured of all of them. He somehow managed to take off as the Jaffa were preoccupied, and Daye tried to follow. Bosco claimed he must've run around in circles for hours, before being caught by two Jaffa, and dragged back to the camp. He's got several large gashes down his arms, and bruises dotting his face and back."

"Why did they do this?" Sam was horrified at the thought of what the men must've endured to suffer some of their injuries.

"That's the big mystery. None of them were questioned, just beaten at every opportunity. The Jaffa were a collection of those from Athena, Neith, and Tanit, and made no demands or discussed what was going to happen to them." Jack shook his head, clearly confused at the unusual behaviour of the Jaffa.

"Shouldn't you be resting if you're leaving soon?"

"Don't know if I can. Too wound up right now. Mind if I stay here for a bit?"

"No. Just working on some of the data regarding the nanocytes recovered from the dead Ba'al clone." Sam turned back to her computer, as Jack took a seat on the opposite side placing his feet on the desk carefully.

"Anything useful yet?"

"No. I can't seem to find any reason that they broke down within him. The only thing I can think of is what I suggested earlier. A flaw in the clone."

"Flaw?" Jack slouched in the chair, placing his hands behind his head. Listening to Sam talk was relaxing, and calming.

"Like the mini-you. I can only assume that there's something in the clones genetic make-up that isn't quite right."

"Can we use this information?"

"If we come across more Ba'al's we might be able to test them to determine if they're a clone or not."

"How many Ba'al's are we looking at?"

"Who knows." Sam turned and smiled at Jack, who looked incredibly comfortable for someone who was too wound up to sleep. "Do you have time to tell me how the gas globes worked?"

Jack told Sam briefly what he saw and what had happened to the Jaffa. Writing down what he described, several new ideas formed in Sam's mind. As Jack finished his comments, she opened the file in her computer pertaining to the gas, and started browsing her notes and research. In less than 10 minutes she heard a gentle snore. Jack was asleep, almost falling out of his chair, his hands behind his head. Sam turned off the main light, and continued to work with only the light from the screen spilling into the room. She would wake him in time to eat, shower, and prepare to embark again.

_AN: What'dya think? _


	6. Chapter 6

Sam woke Jack in a few hours, and once he had left to continue the search for Daniel and Teal'c, she made her way to Vala's quarters again. She didn't receive permission to inform Vala what had happened to Daniel, and wanted to avoid the subject. Not only that, Sam thought by discussing anything other than Daniel and Jack being off world, it might help her take her mind off what was going on. The two of them spent a few hours together, Sam teaching Vala a variety of card games, helping pass the time.

When Vala's lunch arrived, Sam's stomach reminded her that the last time she had eaten was the previous evening with Scott. Excusing herself, she made her way to the commissary, and found a table where she could sit alone. Shortly after she started her lunch, she was joined by Colonel Reynolds, on a quick leave from the infirmary. His face looked like one entire bruise, and he had only been allowed to leave the infirmary after he promised to return after eating, and after his CT scan had revealed no bleeding within his brain. The two discussed the events of the past few days. Reynolds reported that Cam was recovering from surgery, but was not allowed visitors right now, but most of the others had been released and sent home with various broken limbs.

Reynolds told Sam how they had been captured. They had started the search for SG-16 with SG-1, but had split up to cover more ground. The people in the area were primitive, and lived as simple farmers, posing no threat to anyone, and worshipping no god. As they returned to the gate to rendezvous with SG-1, they had heard the ship approach, and ducked into the trees for cover. Unfortunately they hadn't been fast enough, and had been ringed into the ship. They had been imprisoned in the cargo hold for several hours, before the Jaffa had opened the cargo doors, and ordered them to stand within the rings.

They had been transported to another planet, shoes and jackets removed, and ordered to walk towards the gate. That's when they were reunited with SG-1 and SG-16. On the way to the gate, Peterson had stumbled, and was shot by the Jaffa, and left for dead. Then they had travelled to the world with the fortress, and kept in separate rooms. As they were attempting to place Cam into his own cell, Cam had fought back, making several comments trying to get a rise out of the Jaffa. He was knocked down with several blows to the head from the hard end of a Jaffa staff weapon.

Finding there wasn't enough secure cells to leave the men in, Reynolds, along with Daniel and a few others, had been tied up outside, left in the cold, and beaten for sheer pleasure by the Jaffa. Reynolds had not known about the condition of Cam or Dr. Jones until his return to the base, as the Jaffa had kicked them awake and ordered them to move out once more. No conversation had been allowed, which was why most of the injuries had occurred.

When they had reached a clearing, the Jaffa had started making their camp, only after securing the prisoners. Several hours later, somehow Bosco had freed himself, and turned to Daye to help him get free. When a Jaffa had noticed what was happening, Bosco took off, Daye trying desperately to keep up. Sam could tell that Reynolds was also puzzled by the Jaffa's strange behaviour, as he told her about the search teams sent after the escapees. The Jaffa didn't really seem too worried that two prisoners had escaped, and those that were sent out, seemed to only have been ordered to do so to show an attempt to recapture them, weak as it was.

Reynolds finished with the rescue by Jack and the three teams, and how relieved he was to be back home. Sam inquired how many days down time he and his team had been given, but was interrupted by other personnel wanting to talk to Reynolds.

Abandoning her half eaten lunch, she went back to her lab, hoping to get some more work done. Arriving, she noticed Scott in her lab working on his laptop. As she entered the lab, Scott quickly closed the laptop, arousing Sam's suspicions. She immediately wondered what it was that he had been doing, if he was concerned about her seeing the screen. Deciding not to ask any point blank questions, she voiced her plans for the day, and watched him out of the corner of her eye, as she started arranging her reference material for the day.

Vikki wandered in lugging several large books, and Scott barely acknowledged her arrival. Sam glared at Scott as she helped Vikki, wondering what was going on between them. Vikki left, leaving Scott and Sam alone. Not wanting to pry while at work, Sam kept the discussion strictly professional, and the two of them plunged into some of her ideas on the Jaffa gas. After talking briefly with Jack, Sam knew that the time from the gas release to the collapse of the Jaffa was enough time for them to cause a great deal of damage. The potency was perfect, just getting it into the lungs of the Jaffa needed to be quicker.

* * *

It didn't take Jack and the three teams much searching to find a gate address drawn into a patch of dirt by the gate. There was blood on the stone steps leading to the 'gate, and Jack feared that Daniel had been injured trying to leave a clue for them. He hoped fervently that the risk would've been worth it. 

The 'gate was dialed, and the MALP sent through. Once again, there was no sign of current activity surrounding the area, and Jack ordered the three teams through. This new world was a desert planet, the 'gate standing in a sea of sand underneath a fierce sun. There was a moderate breeze whipping across the ground, hiding any footprints that could've given them a clue. Jack flipped his cap backwards to protect his neck, and put his sunglasses on. He was very uncomfortable, standing there in his green camo, a stark contrast to the brown sand. He considered dialing Earth and going back to change, but decided that even a short trip could delay them for too long, and he had no way of knowing how long the group of Jaffa would stick around.

Several miles in the distance Jack could see a patch of vegetation. He assumed that it was some sort of oasis, and any camp made by the Jaffa would more than likely be there. He set a fairly quick pace, wanting to get out of the heat as soon as possible.

As the men approached the lush green area, they noticed that it was much larger than initially anticipated. It looked like a large jungle placed in the sea of sand. It was thick with growth, and Jack knew they would have a hard time traveling through the plants without making much noise. Once under the shade, they started walking around the outskirts, looking for damaged trees, branches, grass, anything to indicate that a group of Jaffa had been there recently.

It didn't take long before a trail was found, at least two people wide. The group started to trek along the path slowly, wanting to make sure that if there was someone out there, hopefully they could see them before they were killed or captured.

The trail ended abruptly at a large shimmering pool of water. Seeing it, Jack licked his dry lips. Not wanting to be frivolous with the limited supply of water he had, he had only taken a few sips needed to starve of dehydration for a little while longer. Seeing the crystal blue pool brought his thirst to a new level. Not wanting to try the water and discover later that it would be the worst decision he could make, he forced his eyes away, and concentrated on the area.

There were heavy boot prints in the mud around the pool, indicating that Jaffa had been there, and recently. Jack followed the footsteps to where the jungle thinned around the outskirts of the pool, and as the ground turned to grass, he could clearly follow their direction. Watching as the other members of the group searched around the pool, Jack saw a quick flash, like sunlight on metal. He whistled loudly, not wanting to yell, and as all faces turned towards him, he indicated for them to take cover, and watch. As each man slinked into the trees, Jack became grateful for the colours he was wearing. If they had been in desert camo, they would've stuck out like a sore thumb.

Jack wanted a closer look at whatever he had just seen, and followed the treeline to the opposite end of the pool. Several feet into the growth, Jack spotted what had caught his attention. It was a piece of a Jaffa's shoulder protection, hanging off what looked like a cactus. As he reached for the piece, the plant swayed ever so slightly, and the main trunk opened, revealing spikes at least a quarter inch thick, and several inches long. Jack pulled his hand back quickly, and understood why the Jaffa had not tried to retrieve the piece. He watched in disgust as the plant secreted a thick gooey substance, and backed away, not wanting to find out whether or not it was poisonous.

Rejoining the group, Jack and SG-22 decided to follow the grass trail, and find out where it led them. SG-12 would stay at the pool, and SG-24 would follow them into the jungle after several minutes. Staying low, using the small bushes for cover, SG-22 with Jack in the lead, cautiously walked up the trail, watching for the strange plant Jack had spotted, and any signs that Daniel or Teal'c had passed that way.

After 15 minutes they came across another clearing, without a pool in the center. It looked like there had been one in the past, but now the dirt was caked in a fine white powder, and Jack could only assume it to be salt left over from evaporation. What was in the center alarmed and relieved him. Daniel and Teal'c where bound by the hands and legs, lying in the open. Teal'c was not moving, but Daniel was rolling around slightly, moaning when he laid on his left side.

Jack knew something wasn't right, as why would the Jaffa leave their prisoners alone, unattended, unless they wanted them to die? Not wanting to make their presence known, the five men ducked under the ample vines, and waited for SG-24 to catch up. If they could do a sweep of the area and determine how many Jaffa were around, Jack could think of the best way to get their men out, and get back to the gate.

Heavy footsteps could be heard, and the men stayed under cover waiting to see if it was their team or not. It was a lone Jaffa, and he walked into the clearing, not taking the time to check if there had been any disturbance. He walked up to the groaning Daniel, and hit him in the temple, hard, with the end of his staff weapon. Daniel's movements ceased, and Jack winced. He had 2 of Sam's gas bombs with him, but didn't want to use them on one Jaffa if there were more waiting in the trees.

The Jaffa, satisfied the prisoner was silent, returned the way he came. Jack barely noticed the slight movement, but on second glance, noticed Colonel Sumner's head duck down as the Jaffa passed. The immediate threat gone, SG-24 dashed the several feet to where Jack and SG-22 were. As they were discussing a plan, the discharging of a zat could be heard in the distance. Jack started up before he realised that the sound did not come from where they had left SG-12. The sound was followed shortly after by that of several staff weapons.

Deciding it was probably the Jaffa fighting each other, Jack decided this would be their best opportunity to grab Daniel and Teal'c and make a run for the gate. As both men were unconscious, they had to be carried, and that prevented the option of staying low. The best thing was to be fast, and get to the gate before the Jaffa.

Jack and Lt Caspian quickly checked Daniel's and Teal'c's injuries before picking them up and getting to the trees as quickly as they could. Once there, two lieutenants took the task of carrying Teal'c while Major Page volunteered to carry Daniel.

Still hearing the sounds of the fight behind them, they ran to the clearing with the pool, informing SG-12 what had happened along the way. Once there, Teal'c started to rouse, and while he was disorientated, and a little shaky on his feet, he was able to walk with some assistance. Daniel, still out cold, was picked up again, and the group started the trek to the desert, the sounds of the fight falling further and further behind them.

As they crossed the desert, Jack and two other men kept a sharp eye behind them. Jack was expecting the Jaffa to start shooting at them any second, and grew more ancy with each passing moment that they didn't. While disagreements between Jaffa of different System Lords was not unusual, to allow prisoners to escape was.

Daniel started moaning before his eyes were even open. Jack, hoping he had nothing more serious than a pounding headache, pushed the teams to get to the gate. They were in an open area, in green camo, and anyone could spot them without much difficulty. He had no intention of being captured, or shot, and wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Silently begging Daniel to forgive him if it was the wrong choice, Jack pushed the men quicker towards the gate. He did not stop until the gate had been dialed, their IDC sent, and every man stepped through the wormhole. Jack followed the MALP through, and sat down hard on the cool metal ramp, pulling out his empty bottle of water in vain.

"Close the iris." Jack could hear General Landry close by, but didn't want to open his eyes. He had accomplished his task, but he was exhausted, and would pay dearly for a glass of water.

* * *

"Medical team to the gateroom." Walter's voice came loud and clear through the intercom, and Sam dropped her notes. Hoping it was Jack, with Daniel and Teal'c, she made her way to the gateroom, scared of what she might find. As she approached she ran into Teal'c, limping and supported by two SF's. His eyes were swollen, and he did not glance her way. Fear gripped her, and she ran as fast as her brace would allow her. 

She arrived to see Daniel being placed on an gurney, and immediately scanned the many faces for Jack. She spotted him sitting several feet from the iris, his arms on his knees, and his head on his arms. Stepping into the room, she watched as General Landry gave Jack a hand up, and clapped him on the back. That simple gesture told Sam that the mission had been successful, as initially she had thought that Daniel was dead. Stepping aside so the medical personnel wouldn't run into her, she hung back, not wanting to run up to Jack in front of everyone in the room.

She watched as the General spoke to Jack, Jack's eyes roaming the room. When her eyes caught his, Jack said something to Landry, and walked over towards her.

"They're taking Daniel for an MRI. Teal'c's probably down in the infirmary now."

"Are you ok?" Sam couldn't see any evidence of wounds, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hurt.

"Yeah, thirsty though." Jack resisted the urge to sling his arm around her, and hold her tight.

"The others?"

"Everyone's fine. Walk with me to the infirmary?"

"Sure."

Jack filled Sam in on some of what had happened on the way, and she listened, trying to understand the unusual behaviour of the Jaffa. Once at the infirmary she left Jack after an SF informed her that Dr. Lee wanted to see her immediately in one of the labs.

* * *

"What have you got?" Sam's tone held a hint of irritation as she had wanted to talk to Jack a little more first. 

"You gotta see this. It's incredible. Unlike anything we've seen before."

"What?"

"This."

Dr. Lee gestured towards a canister on the lab desk, and upon closer inspection, Sam assumed it had once been one of the silver canisters used by SG teams to collect samples.

"What happened to it?"

"We don't know for sure, but whatever is in it, destroyed it." Sam looked at the viscous dark brown goo that was slowly seeping from the many holes in the canister.

"I can see that. Where did it come from?"

"The planet that Major Page and SG-12 just returned from. They collected it out of a plant."

"A plant?" Jack hadn't mentioned any metal eating plants to her. She was sure he would've, short as their conversation was.

"Yes. Apparently while the team was staying put, the Major collected a sample after watching it eat through a piece of Jaffa armour."

"But why get me up here? It's probably an acidic based life form, and yes, that could eat through metal. We've seen it before." Sam wondered why Dr. Lee needed her for this.

"Look at the pictures of the plant."

Sam looked at the monitor, and saw several slides of a cactus like plant. As she scanned through, the pictures showed how the plant opened up from the center trunk, and large spines protruded.

"Good thing no one got too close. Who knows what kind of damage this could do." Sam was shocked at the plants reaction to something in close proximity to it.

"I think we know what kind of damage it could do to a clone." Dr. Lee pushed his glasses further up his nose, and crossed his arms.

"A clone?"

"Yes. More specifically, the Ba'al clone we've got on the floor above."

"What does this plant have to do with him?" Sam could see the Dr. Lee was thinking, but wished he would get to his point.

"We found a partially healed scratch on his arm."

"And you think this plant has something to do with the breakdown in the nanocytes?"

"It would be a good explanation as to why the nanocytes broke down within him. I mean, if this stuff is like a poison, and he scratched his arm on the plant, theoretically it could be the cause."

"Theoretically, yes. But how the hell are we going to test that? What fragments of the nanocytes we were able to recover won't be of any use for testing, and we certainly can't use this goo on humans. The only way I can see us proving this would be to infect another clone with the same substance." An idea was forming in Sam's mind as she spoke. "Hang on, we could attempt to place this substance in a small dart and deliver it that way, as Ba'al's personal shield won't be able to stop something traveling at a low velocity. I'm guessing that it might take time to affect the clone, but we'd know within a few days."

"If he's a clone." Dr. Lee, the ever pessimistic man, pointed out.

"Yeah. But still it's something to go on. Ok, I've got to get back to, uh, the team. Try and get some of this stuff into a container it won't melt through, and we'll figure out a way to place it in a dart."

"Ok, thanks Dr. Carter."

Sam left Dr. Lee, her mind working on the task ahead of Dr. Lee. It wasn't until she practically walked into Major Page that she realised where she was. Voicing a quick apology, she entered the infirmary, and found most of the beds occupied, and Dr. Lam filling out some charts.

"Hi."

"Hey. You looking for someone specific, or here to visit in general?" Dr. Lam placed the chart on the side table next to an occupied bed, and walked over to Sam, still standing in the doorway.

"Uh, just wondering if General O'Neill was here."

"No, he left with Landry as soon as I gave him the ok."

"Oh. How's everyone doing?" Sam scanned the faces she could see, but didn't recognize Daniel, Teal'c or Cam.

"Most of these guys will be out in a few hours. Set some bones, clean some wounds. A few will be staying for a while longer. You want to see SG-1?" Carolyn had noticed Sam's roaming eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

Sam followed Dr. Lam into another area of the infirmary, where several more beds were occupied. In the corner she spotted Daniel, Cam and Teal'c. Teal'c was sitting up in the bed, and smiled at Sam.

"Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter is here." Teal'c informed Daniel, who had stirred, but not opened his eyes.

"Ok, you can visit for a bit, but not too long." Dr. Lam left the three friends alone, after briefly checking Cam's vitals.

"You guys feeling ok?"

"I will recover Samantha Carter." Sam glanced at the many cuts, lacerations, and bruises Teal'c had covering the bits of his skin that she could see.

"Yeah, I've had better days." Daniel still had yet to open his eyes.

"When are you going to be allowed out Teal'c?" Sam knew better to ask what had happened before they had been debriefed by General Landry.

"I believe that Dr. Lam is concerned that I may have sustained a head injury similar to Daniel Jacksons. She wishes for me to stay here for a few hours, then I will be permitted to return to my quarters."

"Daniel?" Daniel looked to be in worse shape than Teal'c. He too had many bruises and cuts, several requiring stitches. The one side of his face was a large bruise, with what appeared to be a large lump near his temple. His foot was elevated under the sheets, and Sam hoped he hadn't broken it. She could testify as to how much of a pain in the ass that would be.

"I'm here. Just got a massive headache."

"Want me to grab Dr. Lam? She can give you something for it." Sam turned towards the door.

"No. She already did. Just not kicked in yet."

"How's Cam?" Throughout their conversation Cam had not stirred. There was a machine beside him, monitoring his EKG, EEG, and blood O2 levels. Sam did not recognize the other machine that was attached to Cam with tubing going to the side of his head.

Seeing her focus on the unusual machine, Teal'c spoke, informing Sam of what the machine was.

"It monitors fluid accumulating around the brain, and the tubing drains the fluid when the pressure becomes to great. I too was curious, and enquired about it."

"That can't be good! Is he going to be ok?"

"Cameron Mitchell sustained a severe head injury. Dr. Lam informed me that surgery was performed to remove a fluid buildup within his skull, and he would regain consciousness in approximately 4 more hours." Teal'c eased off his bed to stand. Sam could see his movements were a little slower, and less graceful than usual, yet he never showed any sign of pain other than that small hint.

"How long until he's back on his feet?"

"I am unsure, but Dr. Lam assured us that he would fully recover."

"That's good. Daniel, what's your verdict?" Sam was relieved to hear that Cam would be ok as she had been concerned when she had heard the state in which he had been found.

"Concussion. Bad one. Sprained ankle. Staying here a while." Daniel spoke slowly, and still his eyes remained unopened. Sam guessed that whatever Carolyn had given him for the pain had not kicked in full blast yet. About to ask Teal'c another question, she was interrupted.

"Teal'c, good to see you on your feet." General Landry stood in the doorway, Jack by his side.

"Uh, I was just leaving. Come visit when you can, Teal'c." Sam knew that the two Generals would want to discuss what had happened on the mission while the memory was still fresh in their minds. As she passed Jack, he smiled at her briefly, before entering the room, and taking a seat next to Daniel's bed.

Leaving the infirmary, Sam ran into Carolyn discharging another of the wounded men.

"Sam, tomorrow can you be back here at, oh, say 1000?"

"Sure. What for?"

"One final x-ray and we should have that brace off your leg if everything checks out. I've been talking to your physiotherapist and he says that you're doing great, so I think it's time that we can remove it."

"Really? That's great. You have no idea how much I hate this thing." Sam hated the way the brace slowed her down, and how she only could wear certain pants that would fit over it, amongst the list of other complaints she had about it.

"No promises though. You all done with the invalids?" Carolyn grinned at Sam, having heard the stories of SG-1 being confined to the infirmary and not reacting too well.

"General Landry and O'Neill are with them now. You didn't see them come in?"

"No. I was getting Bosco out of here."

"How's he doing?"

"He was in much better condition that the rest of his team, that's for sure. Pity more of them couldn't have gotten away. He did the right thing, trying to help others escape."

"Did he see the rest of his team yet?"

"No. He did ask about them, but he was in a hurry to leave." Carolyn looked puzzled as she thought about Sam's question. It was unusual for team members to leave her care without seeing the rest of their team. Usually it was left to a nurse, or herself, to kick the healthy, or released team members out so the injured ones could get their rest.

"I'll stop by, make sure he's ok."

"Thanks Sam. I'll see you tomorrow." Carolyn rushed over to one man who had started calling out in pain.

Sam left intending on finding Bosco, but once again was sidetracked. This time it was Scott who almost ran her down.

"Hey, whoa. Where's the fire?"

"Fire? There's a fire?" Scott looked around wildly as if expecting to see flames roaring down the corridor.

"Scott, what's gotten into you? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine. Just trying to find you."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Vikki. She saw something. I think you need to see it." Scott headed towards the small office he shared with Vikki, Sam following asking him many questions he wouldnt' answer.

Entering the office, Sam saw Vikki in front of the computer.

"What took you so long?" Vikki turned as she heard the door open, and directed her question towards Scott in a slightly less than friendly tone.

"Couldn't find her." Scott seemed slightly apologetic, and shrugged at Sam's sideways glance.

"What's up Vikki?" Sam wondered what had happened between them, but didn't want to discuss it now at work.

"I've been doing the daily searches on the Internet for Ba'al on Earth like you asked, and I finally found something. This was from the same newspaper that did the report on him before, except this was only a short blurb about the recent rise in stock prices for his company. Here." Vikki moved so Sam could get closer to the computer monitor. She saw a picture of Ba'al in front of a large house.

"Ok. So we find the house, find Ba'al." Sam was glad she had asked Vikki to do this for her. Now they had a possible lead on where he was hiding.

"Not that. There in the background." Vikki pointed to the left of Ba'al where the garden for the house was.

"What are you pointing..." Sam broke off as she recognized the cactus like plant in the background.

"Dr. Lee showed Scott the pictures, I showed Scott this picture. He noticed the plant immediately, so I had him run and grab you. Is it the same?"

"It looks similar, but I only saw a few pictures of it. I think you need to get Dr. Lee down here." Scott left at Sam's comment, and Sam and Vikki continued to study the poor quality newspaper photo.

"I can see if we can clean this up a bit." Vikki started fiddling around with the computer, the picture becoming clearer, and larger. Sam turned as she heard footsteps in the hallway, expecting Scott and Dr. Lee. Instead, Jack strolled in.

"Hey. Ran into Scott on his way up. He said you were in here."

"Jack, do you recognize this?" Sam gestured towards the photo, and Jack leaned in to take a closer look.

"Yeah. Kinda looks like that monster of a cactus in that oasis. What's it doing there?" At Jack's comment, Vikki scaled the picture back to its original size and now Ba'al's face was clearly visible. Jack took an unconscious step back at the sight of his face, smiling back on the monitor.

"That's what we're wondering. Did you see any of Ba'al's Jaffa while you were off world?" Sam wondered if Ba'al was behind the kidnappings of the SG personnel.

"No. Just the others... Tanit, Neith and what was the other one? Athens?"

"Athena. Well, they're all connected to Ba'al."

"I thought that thing was a cactus. How is it growing and thriving in England?" Jack stepped away from the monitor, and turned away from Sam.

"Probably..." Sam was interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Lee. He rushed over to the monitor, and once again, Vikki brought up the enlarged image of the plant.

"Is it the same?" Ba'al's picture off the monitor, Jack turned back to face the group huddling around the computer.

"I can't say positively, but it does look very similar. I'll need to take a closer look, and compare this with what I've got." Dr. Lee asked Vikki to email the picture to his account, and left, followed by Scott.

"Nice work Vikki." Sam smiled at the younger woman, and turned as Jack made for the door.

"Vikki, can you ask Dr. Lee to inform General Landry as soon as you know if it's the same plant?" Jack made his parting comment as he exited the room.

Back at Sam's lab, Jack made a beeline for the chair he had fallen asleep in previously, and proceed to make himself comfortable. Sam leaned over the lab table, questions buzzing in her mind.

"Did you talk to Daniel?"

"Sort of. He was pretty loopy after a few minutes. On the bright side, he didn't throw up." At Sam's disgusted look, Jack continued. "You know, concussions, nausea. I figured out of everyone, Daniel would have the weakest stomach."

"That little thought aside, did you get anything from them as to why they were taken?" Sam had been starting to get a little hungry, but now she wasn't too eager to eat just yet.

"Nope. Not a thing. Teal'c said they didn't see any of our suspects, only the Jaffa. There wasn't much talking going on between the Jaffa either."

"Why just Daniel and Teal'c? Why separate them?"

"Teal'c said that by that point, the Jaffa had pulled out the pain stick, and were using it on him liberally. Daniel was unconscious by that point. He hit his head trying to leave the next destination for us to find. From what we've heard from the others, the Jaffa arrived at one planet, and as soon as the gate shut off, dialed the next world, and sent Daniel and Teal'c through with 10 or so Jaffa. I don't have a clue as to why they did what they did. It's not like any of our guys were questioned. Just tortured." Jack laced his fingers behind his head, and rocked back on the chair.

"So we've got a bunch of injured personnel, and absolutely no reason for it?" Sam's tone had a clip to it, indicating that she was slightly upset.

"Yup. Pretty much."

"What are we doing about it?" Sam was upset at the turn of events, as she couldn't seem to wrap her mind around the senseless violence, She knew the Goa'uld were violent, but at the same time they usually had a reason for torture, like getting information. While Jack seemed relaxed, slouched in the chair, there was a grim and determined look on his face.

"Landry's sending UAV's to the last two planets, checking there are no more Jaffa on the one, and seeing what there is, besides the oasis, on the other. Depending on what we find, we may go back. What's wrong?" Jack had noticed the expression on Sam's face change as he spoke.

"Nothing." Not wanting to reveal what she had been feeling to Jack, Sam turned away from him.

"What's wrong?" Jack sat up.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Sam. Something's bothering you. What's up? You were the one who said we had to be honest with each other." Jack assumed he had done or said something to upset her, but couldn't think what it was.

"Why aren't you more upset? I mean, you just rescued several SGC personnel who were captured and tortured by a bunch of Jaffa for no apparent reason. Shouldn't you be raring to go kick some Jaffa ass?"

Sam started pacing as she spoke, and continued as she waited for Jack's response. He thought about how to answer her quesiton carefully before he spoke.

"Right now we've got 1 dead scientist, and 11 men with various injuries. I'm happy for the moment that we've got them all back to Earth, but I'm angry that we lost a member of the SGC. I would love nothing more than to nuke the last three planets we visited, but that's not an option yet. When we get the intel from the UAV letting us know what's going on out there, we may take action. For now, we have to wait and see. If Ba'al is connected to that plant thing, he may have had something to do with this. If he, or a clone, goes back, we'll know about it. As for a reason, well, I used to think that sometimes there wasn't a reason, but in this case, I'll bet several cases of beer that there was one, we just don't know what it is yet."

Sam felt the tiny piece of anger dissipate as Jack made his point in a calm, even tone. She took a closer look at Jack's tired face, remembering the last time he had slept was in her lab several hours previously, and had not had much before that.

"Hungry?" Her own stomach was growling, and she was sure that his was pretty empty too.

"I could go for something to eat. What's on the menu?"

"Why don't we go find out?"

"Sure."

"Jack, I'm sorry. I overreacted. There's something about being under this mountain that gives me the urge to grab a gun and go. I guess there's a part of me that really misses the action, even after all these years."

"Don't worry about it. I get the same feeling, only this time I was able to do something about it. Don't worry, I can't see you being kept holed up in a lab forever."

"Uh, I doubt I'll be going off world any time soon."

"Hey, you never know." Jack smiled at her, trying to lighten her previous mood.

"How long are you staying here, in Colorado Springs?"

"I'm not sure just yet. I'd like to stay for a bit, see what's going on first hand, but it depends on my orders. For now, once I have the reports, I'm supposed to report back to D.C. and fill everyone in on the latest."

"Oh." Sam was disappointed. She had hoped he would be staying longer, but knew that his job was based out of D.C. and it was unreasonable to think that he would be spending any length of time at the SGC. "So what's the word on Daniel and Cam? When will SG-1 be back on mission rotation?"

"Landry's given them some time to recuperate. Daniel should be back on his feet within a day or so, but he might suffer headaches for a few days. Cam, he's not going to be leaving that bed for a few days yet, then after that, 3-4 weeks of recovery. Once he's out of the infirmary, he'll be able to go home, but only if someone's there to take care of him, make sure he's ok for a bit. Teal'c, well, you know Teal'c. I bet he's already out of Dr. Lam's clutches, and probably resting in his quarters. I don't know what his plans are for the down-time, but I bet he'll go visit his son."

"He hasn't asked yet?" Usually Teal'c made his intentions clear as soon as he was informed of any leave. It wasn't that often he got to spend any length of time these days with Ry'ac and his wife, and he relished every opportunity that came his way.

"No, but I'm sure he will in the morning."

"So, you're staying on base tonight?"

"Actually, Daniel asked me to run over to his place and grab some stuff for him. I thought I'd just crash there for a bit."

"Really?" Sam was surprised that Jack wouldn't be staying at the SGC. Normally he would, so he could be close at hand if something happened, and especially as Daniel was in the infirmary.

"Yeah, I was 'ordered' by that lovely doc down there to get a decent rest, and Daniel felt the need to chime in that I wouldn't do that on the base. I think he was trying to get me stuck in the infirmary with him, but Lam decided it would be best if I headed off base for the night. That's when Daniel piped up about needing stuff from home."

"What kind of stuff?" Daniel had plenty to keep him occupied in his office and anyone could go grab the materials he wanted out of there.

"Spare change of clothes. Apparently BDU's aren't quite comfortable enough to sleep in." Jack couldn't understand Daniel's request. He thought that BDU's were more comfortable than most of the things he was required to wear.

"How long is he staying again? A week?" Jack rolled his eyes at Sam's joking, glad she was smiling again.

"Look, you're done here right? I'm done for the night too. Why don't we head out for something decent to eat. I can drop you off at your house and go back to Daniel's."

"You know, all of a sudden the base food doesn't seem that appealing."

"Great! I'll meet you topside in say, 15min?" Jack wanted to have a quick shower and change before going anywhere.

"Sure. I have to go close up the lab, and let Vikki and Scott know I'm leaving. They're probably still working with Dr. Lee."

* * *

Jack signed out, and ran over to Sam, waiting at the entrance to the parking lot. At her sideways glance towards the rows of cars parked, Jack jingled Daniel's car keys in front of her. He knew that her car wouldn't be on the base, and Daniel had offered the use of his car to Jack. He had been under the influence of some rather strong pain killers, and Jack hoped he would remember giving permission the following day. 

After a pleasant dinner, Jack started the car and turned to head to Sam's place.

"Jack. Why don't we stop, grab Daniel's stuff, then you can head back to my place." Sam shyly asked Jack, unsure of how he would respond.

"Are you sure?" Jack would much rather spend the night in Sam's company than all alone at Daniel's place, but he didn't want Sam thinking that she was obligated in any way to ask him.

"Daniel's place is across town. If we go grab his stuff, then head to my place, it'll cut out all the driving tonight. Not just that, but I'll have to get back to the base somehow tomorrow."

"I can pick you up in the morning." Jack was already sold on the idea, but wanted Sam to be sure of what she was asking.

"Jack, turn around. Go to Daniels. You can crash in the guest room, or on the couch. Take your pick. Besides, it's only 2100. What were you planning on doing at Daniel's? Knowing you, watching TV until you fell asleep in an awkward position on the couch, and spending most of tomorrow complaining you didn't get a decent sleep, and your neck hurts." Sam grinned slyly at him, knowing all to well that this scenario was probably exactly what would happen. It had on many occasions before.

Sam got her answer as Jack spun the car around towards Daniel's. He gave her a shy grin, before turning his attention back to the road.

Once at Daniels, Jack stopped the car, and jumped out, leaving the engine running. He explained he was going to run up to the apartment quickly, grab what was needed, and head back down. As he left, Sam leaned over and turned the ignition off. In less than five minutes Jack was back, throwing a bag into the backseat and restarting the engine.

As they approached Sam's house, she became more nervous with every block. Wanting to laugh at herself, she wondered why she was feeling butterflies in her stomach. It wasn't like Jack had never spent the night at her place before. He had done many times when she was on SG-1. A nagging thought in her mind reminded her that back then, she had been his 2IC, and things had been different. Now, while their friendship wasn't what it used to be, they had something different. It was a more open relationship, and she was seeing different sides of Jack than she had when he had been 'Sir'. Now they were able to act upon their feeling for each other, and while they had taken the first step towards that, they had gone no further.

Sam was glad that the relationship was not progressing too much faster. She needed the time to adjust her thoughts and actions. After Pete she had not expected, or wanted, another relationship, and had kept that mindset for just over two years. Now she had to change that, but there was always a nagging thought in the darkest delves of her mind that refused to keep silent. What if this relationship went sour? What would she do then? The logical part of her mind knew that Jack would never intentionally hurt her in any way, but she hadn't expected Pete to hurt her the way he did. The scars from her failed marriage had not quite healed, and it made her wary when she didn't want to be.

Jack parked on the street in front of her house, and turned off the engine. He had noticed that Sam had fallen into silence and was concerned as to why. He had spent several nights at Sam's house, back when she was only allowed to be Carter to him, but now things were different. Was she having second thoughts about her suggestion? As he was thinking, Sam seemed to realise where they were, and got out of the car. She started walking up to her house, and when she realised Jack hadn't got out of the car, she turned, and in the light from the streetlamps, he could see her beckoning him towards her.

He got out of the car, grabbed his overnight bag from the backseat, and locked the car doors. She went inside her house, leaving him to close and lock the door behind him. He heard her moving in the kitchen as he took off his shoes and hung up his jacket.

"You want a drink?" Sam called from the kitchen.

"Uh, sure. You got beer?" Jack sauntered into the living room and took a seat on the couch.

"I've got a few bottles left from the bbq."

"Still? I'd a thought you'd have taken care of those already."

"Yeah, well. Don't drink beer that much anymore." Sam joined Jack in the living room, and handed him a beer.

"More for me then." Jack grinned at Sam as she took a seat on the couch next to him. He reached for the remote, but she was quicker. "Hey!"

"My house, my rules." Jack's arm shot towards her wrist in a weak attempt to grab the remote, but she moved before he could get a good grip on her.

"Fine, but no science stuff. You get enough of that at work." Sam rolled her eyes at Jack, and started flipping channels. She paused on a channel when she saw an image on the screen.

"I just want to see what they're discussing tonight." Sam had stopped on a channel discussing coronal mass ejections, and Jack turned to glare mockingly at her, but ended up smiling as she became engrossed in the show. He watched her for several minutes, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Finally she placed her glass of water on the coffee table, her attention still focused on the show. Jack, with the grace of a cat, moved towards her, his hands reaching for the remote, still in her hands. Sam, suspecting he would try something, had been using her peripheral vision to watch for sudden movements. Still, he surprised her, but she managed to move the remote away from him.

All to suddenly she became aware of how close he was to her. Her hand, still holding the remote, was stretched out over the arm of the couch, and her head was leaning on it. Her feet dangled over the side of the couch, and he had his hands holding himself above her, kneeling where he had once been sitting. Before she could move, he spoke.

"You can't hold onto the remote forever you know." Sam noted the twinkle in his eyes, the one that she knew meant he was up to some sort of mischief.

"I can try." She challenged him right back.

His hands moved from the cushion of the couch to her waist, and she erupted in laughter as he tickled her mercilessly. She firmly held onto the remote, laughing as he tried to find a spot on her waist that was the most ticklish. He stopped, now closer than he had been before.

His face was right above hers, and he moved his lips onto hers. All coherent thoughts in her mind stopped, including the one thought keeping the remote gripped tightly within her hand. He heard the remote drop as she moved her hands to his face.

As suddenly as he had kissed her, he stopped, and pulled himself back, her hands dropping from his face. He hadn't wanted to rush her, but at the same time, didn't want to stop himself either. Unsure of what her reaction would be, he made light of the situation.

"Told ya I could get the remote."

In response, she placed her hands on his neck, and pulled him back to her.

Sam had not been expecting him to kiss her. Despite their conversation, and decision to take their friendship one step further, apart from the increase in hugs, it hadn't seemed that much different. She had wanted to go slowly, not wanting to screw anything up, and to be sure that this really was what she wanted right now in her life. She was grateful that Jack respected her wishes and did not press the issue any further, but at the same time, wanted to take the next step.

Before she had married Pete, she had wondered, and dreamt about what it would be like to kiss Jack. Now, words would never describe it. She allowed herself to enjoy this moment, and push back the doubts and any inhibitions she had about another relationship, this relationship.

It was over all too soon for Sam. Jack sat up slowly, offering a hand to Sam, which she accepted. When she was sitting upright, he did not let go of her hand. Instead he grasped the other hand also, and looked straight into her eyes.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Great." Sam answered softly, wanting to ease the concern on his face.

"C'mere." Jack let go of her hands, and she felt herself gravitate towards him. He held her, hands rubbing circles on her back, and she was content to stay there.

When Jack heard her breathing start to change, he knew it was time to go to bed. Not that he wouldn't love to spend the night holding Sam close, but then both of them would wake up with kinks in their necks, and sore muscles.

"What time do you have to be back on base?" Sam moved away from his warmth, and his arms no longer circled her.

"0800."

"Kay, I'll set the alarm for 0630?"

"Sounds good." Jack stood up after Sam did, and moved towards his overnight bag. Once he grabbed it, Sam led the way upstairs.

"Spare room's here. Sorry, it's still a bit of a mess."

"Don't worry about it. There's a bed, and a pillow. That's more than I need."

"And the bathroom's just down here." Jack nodded as he already knew from the bbq where everything was in her house. "Do you need anything else?"

"Sam, I'm fine. If I do need anything, I'll let you know."

"Alright, good night then."

"Sam..." Jack leaned towards her and kissed her once more. "Good night."

Jack turned into the room, and watched as Sam walked the few steps to her room. She was unable, and unwilling, to stop the smile forming as she heard him close the door. Once in her room, she lay on her bed, the memory of what had happened the only thing in her mind.

_AN: That was a monster of a chap to write. Thank you to all who reviewed the last one, and huge thanks once again to ATFan for her help with the medical stuff, and helping me try to keep Sam and Jack from going too far OoC. _


	7. Chapter 7

The irritating buzzing noise was the last sound that Sam wanted to hear. She pulled an arm out from under the warm duvet and flailed it around, attempting to find the snooze button. Quiet once again reigned in her room, and Sam, still not having opened her eyes, started to become a little more aware of the new day. Suddenly she snapped her eyes open. The alarm. It had been set so she could wake Jack up in time to be at the SGC. Jack. He was in her guest bedroom. He had kissed her the night before.

Awake and alert, Sam threw back the covers and started rummaging in her closet for the clothes for the day. Usually she had them ready the night before, but last night had been a definite distraction from her normal routine. She had fallen asleep on top of the bed, still wearing the jeans and shirt from that day. When she had roused several hours later, she had changed into her pj's and crawled under the sheets. Grinning as she remembered said distraction, Sam dashed for the shower, not wanting to take longer than necessary.

Once she was ready for the new day, Sam knocked politely on the door of her guest bedroom, hoping that she wouldn't have to try to wake Jack by shaking him. Only once before had she tried that, and he had moved so quickly it was almost impossible to believe he had been asleep. Not hearing any sound emerging from the room, she cautiously opened the door, and peered in. Jack was curled up on the bed, the sheets only covering one leg, and one pillow under his head was grasped firmly by his hand. Taking several steps into his room she called his name at various tones hoping to rouse him, to no avail. Keeping an eye out for any sudden movements from any of his limbs, Sam gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and shook him. It took barely any effort on her part as he opened his eyes, and blinked, focusing on who was standing before him.

"Jack."

"Mmmhmmm."

"It's 0645."

"Yup."

"You have to be at the SGC in just over an hour." That did the trick. He blinked several more times, then pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah, I'm up."

"There's a towel in the bathroom for you. You want some breakfast or just coffee?"

"Whatever you're having is fine with me, Sam."

Sam exited the room, and headed downstairs, turning the coffee machine on as soon as she entered the kitchen. Browsing through her cupboards and discovering there was nothing she was really interested in eating, she settled for tossing a few slices of bread in the toaster as she heard the shower start up on the floor above.

Sam was reading and writing notes when Jack entered the kitchen. She turned her head to give him a grin, and pointed with her pencil at the cup of coffee she had prepared for him. As he walked past her to retrieve the cup, he bent and kissed her gently on the forehead. Picking up the coffee, spotting the bread on the counter, he placed two slices in the toaster, and pushed the button, not missing the ever so slight red tinge that Sam's cheeks had turned.

* * *

Jack pulled into the parking lot at Cheyenne Mountain with 15 minutes to spare. Before opening the car door, he caught Sam's eye, and kissed her softly on the lips, wanting to kiss her one last time before entering the mountain. No discussion was needed, as it was clear to Jack that Sam wanted to keep this quiet. He too wanted to avoid the base gossip that would surely erupt once the relationship became public knowledge. Thinking to himself that the heating bill would be drastically reduced due to all the hot air that would come with the gossip and rumours, he also wanted to spare Sam of any negative comments until she felt comfortable with what they were beginning. 

Going through security together, the conversation did not stray from work related topics. Sam informed Jack that she would head straight down to the infirmary to check on Daniel and Cam after dropping her books off in her lab. Not having enough time to stop by before his meeting with General Landry, and not knowing how long the meeting would go, Jack couldn't tell Sam what time he would be stopping by, but did promise to stop by her lab later.

Getting off the elevator at her floor, Sam headed straight for her lab, dropped off her books, and returned to wait for the elevator to take her to the infirmary.

"Sam! You're early."

"Hi Carolyn. Early? For what?"

"The brace on your leg. We had this conversation yesterday."

"Oh yeah, that." Sam had completely forgotten.

"You're here to see Daniel and Cam then?"

"Yes."

"I'll check to see if they're up yet. I've got a few things to take care of first, but we should be able to get that brace off you today."

"Thanks Carolyn." Dr. Lam went into the other room, and returned, beckoning to Sam that it was ok for her to enter.

"Hey Daniel. How you feeling today?"

"Better. Can I leave yet?" Daniel directed his question to Dr. Lam who was checking Cam's vitals.

"No. At the earliest tomorrow morning. If you behave." Dr. Lam exited with her last comment, glaring at Daniel.

"Daniel, what did you do?"

"Do? Why would you assume I'd do anything?"

"Well, considering you aren't usually the worst patient to have in the infirmary, I can only assume you did something to result in that last comment." Sam grinned at Daniel, who looked guiltily back at her.

"Uh, I kinda went for a walk last night..."

"That's not too bad."

"To my office."

"Daniel! Weren't you supposed to stay in bed."

"I needed some of the research from my office. I'm going crazy just lying here." Daniel punched the bed indicating how frustrated he was.

"How did you walk to your office? Don't you need crutches?" Sam pointed towards his wrapped ankle.

"I found a substitute." Daniel's eyes wandered over to the currently unused IV pole just behind the door.

"Daniel. You're picking up tips from Jack. Did you get what you wanted?"

"Uh, no." Daniel looked sheepishly away and Sam noticed a newer bruise on his forehead. "I got a little dizzy waiting for the elevator, and the next thing I remember I was back here in this bed."

Sam laughed as Daniel traced the bruise on his forehead.

"Speaking of Jack, where is he?" Daniel tried to divert the conversation.

"With Landry, and the men of the three teams that went missing."

"I thought they debriefed yesterday." Daniel vaguely remembered recounting his experiences to Jack and General Landry the day before.

"No. That was only with the teams that rescued you guys. Most of the others were still in the infirmary. They're doing a thorough debriefing today."

"I should be there then." Daniel sat up slowly, and moved to get off the bed.

"If you were supposed to be there, Jack would've come to get you." As Daniel swayed slightly and turned a little paler, Sam hastened to add, "besides, I don't think you'd get up there without throwing up. You want me to get Carolyn?"

"No. I think I'll just lie down again. Just a side effect from the concussion." Daniel added the last part as Sam stared at him, debating on whether or not to get Carolyn.

"How's Cam doing? Has he woken yet?" Sam glanced over towards Cam's still form.

"Yeah. During the night, and again when Teal'c stopped by."

"When was Teal'c here?"

"Uh, probably about 2 hours ago. He's gone to Dakara to meet Bra'tac and he mentioned seeing Ry'ac too. He tried to find both you and Jack last night to let you know of his plans, but he couldn't find you." Daniel turned his scrutinising gaze directly on Sam's face.

"Jack gave me a ride home. He's got the stuff you asked for, I bet he left it in the car."

"He drove you home, went to my house, and brought you back to the base? Not that I mind him giving you a ride, but that's a lot of driving, and I hope he put gas in my car!" Daniel was fishing for information.

"I'll remind him. Did you want me to go grab your stuff?" Sam posed the question, but was already out the door as she finished speaking. Daniel knew avoidance when he heard it, and wondered exactly what had happened last night.

Sam returned to the infirmary empty handed. She could've sworn Jack put the bag with Daniel's clothes inside, on the backseat. Perhaps he had already brought it into the base, and left it somewhere. Frustrated, Sam took the elevator down to the infirmary in time to have one last x-ray, and the brace removed.

"You've been doing great in physio, but you'll need to keep going for a week or so yet."

"That's not a problem. I'm just happy to be free of that thing." Sam kicked her now free leg in the direction of the abandoned brace.

"Take it easy though ok. No running amok around the base." Sam glared at Carolyn. As if she would do anything of the kind.

"Excuse me." Sam and Carolyn looked at the new arrival.

"Bosco. You ok?" Carolyn stood up, immediately concerned.

"Yeah, just wondering if I could stop by and see my team."

Carolyn excused herself to Sam, and escorted Bosco into the other room. Returning shortly after, Carolyn started clearing up, and tossed the brace in the garbage.

"What's wrong?" Sam noticed the frown Carolyn wore when she left Bosco with his team.

"I was expecting him to stop by earlier... as in yesterday."

"Well, he's here now." As Sam spoke, Bosco hurried from the room. Carolyn immediately ran into the room, and Sam dashed after Bosco.

"Hey. Bosco. Wait." Sam caught up with him at the elevator, only to remember she was only wearing one shoe. "What's wrong?"

Bosco stared at her blankly, as if not recognizing her. Sam felt chills go down her spine as she waited. She had not spent as much time with Bosco as Cam, but as he was on SG-1 she had made an attempt to get to know him. Due to the fact he was on a team with two of her closest friends, an acquaintanceship of sorts had formed. He usually greeted her in a friendly manner when they ran into each other, so Sam couldn't understand the temporary lost look on his face.

"Seeing Colonel Mitchell." He shook himself out of his trance, and focused his eyes on Sam. "He looks like he's dead."

"He's not. He'll be back on his feet in no time." Sam knew that Bosco had been a part of the SGC for several years, and a member of an SG team for at least 3 years. In that time, he had to have seen many atrocious things, but the sight of your commanding officer lying motionless in an infirmary bed could shake anyone up.

"I feel like it should've been me in there. I knew when they shoved him into that room it wasn't going to turn out well. I could hear him after each Jaffa hit him, I was in the room next to him. When we left that place, he wasn't with us, and I thought he was dead. I should've tried to get away sooner."

"There wasn't anything you could do. Don't beat yourself up about it." Sam knew how he was feeling, she'd felt it before herself. The image of Jack after he had been rescued from Ba'al's clutches immediately sprang to mind. She had begged him to take that symbiote, and felt waves of guilt when they eventually found him. Gently, Sam pushed Bosco back towards the infirmary. As she got closer, Sam could see Carolyn watching them approach. Sharing an 'I'll tell you in a sec' look, Sam walked with Bosco back to Daniel and Cam.

Daniel sat up as Sam and Bosco entered, confused. He had seen Bosco come in, exchanged pleasantries, and when Bosco had turned towards Cam, Daniel had explained what the various monitors were for and updated him on how Cam was doing. Bosco had practically bolted out of the room without another word. Watching as Bosco neared Cam, Sam providing some support, he had a flash of understanding.

"Whad are you lookin at." Cam slurred after opening his eyes and seeing Bosco staring at him.

"Uh, nothing, Sir." Bosco looked a little alarmed.

"Cam, good to see you awake." Sam smiled at Cam, who closed his eyes again.

"Yeah. Gotta wake up occasionally and make sure Daniel stays put."

"Hey. I am right here!" Daniel called from a few beds over. Fortunately the room was otherwise empty so they weren't disturbing anyone.

Cam stayed awake for just over an hour, and Sam stayed with the three men, talking and laughing, telling old stories, and hearing new ones. Bosco loosened up a little and relaxed as the hour passed. It wasn't until Carolyn ushered Sam and Bosco out that Sam realised how much time had passed. She headed up to her lab to find Vikki approaching at the same time. Sam sat down in front of her computer and listened as Vikki detailed the research into the plant. She was still unsure if it was native to Earth, but as far as her and Dr. Lee could tell, it was the exact same plant as the one on the planet.

* * *

Jack tried not to make it seem that he was running out of the briefing room. He had been stuck in there for several hours, his knees hurt, his stomach was growling, and he really needed to use the bathroom. As he tried to make a quick exit, several of the members of the rescued teams stopped him to ask questions. He answered as best he could, his mind already locating the closest bathroom. Finally there was a lull in the comments, and Jack had positioned himself near the door for such a moment. Noticing Hank nod at him, he waved a hand to acknowledge he'd be back later, and slipped out. 

The urgent business taken care of, Jack sauntered towards the infirmary. He had heard of Daniel's mishap from Major Fischer, who had spent the night in the infirmary, and wanted to make the most of it. Dr. Lam waved him through, busy with a patient.

"Jack. How'd it go?" Daniel looked bored out of his mind.

"Slowly. That many people debriefing, and all have different observations. Takes time. When we get the written reports it might be a little easier to get the big picture."

"Ah. When do you want our reports?" Daniel looked around as if he was going to start his report right then and there.

"When you don't have a concussion any more, which means staying in the infirmary until you're released. Elevator doors give you concussions too, you know."

"Does the whole base know by now?" Daniel glared at Jack, who shrugged.

"I could ask around for ya."

"No thanks. Did you bring the clothes I wanted?"

"Yeah, Sam put them in the car this morning." Jack was sure he had seen her put a bag in the backseat.

"Actually, Sam said you did the exact same thing."

"Then what did she put in there? I know it was by her front door, I remember leaving it there last..." Jack broke off, realising what he was saying.

"Last night, Jack? After Teal'c couldn't find you, I assumed you spent the night at my place." Daniel watched as Jack desperately tried to think of something to say.

"Uh, yeah. When I dropped Sam off I left the bag there, thinking that she would remember it better than I would." Jack thought he'd done a good job, as it was true, his memory for things like that tended to be a little short.

"So, you drove to my house after passing Sam's house, packed a bag for me, returned to Sam's house to leave the bag there, and then drove back to my house?"

"Uh, not exactly." Jack couldn't think of a way to dig himself out of this one.

"Jack, I won't say anything. It's between you guys what happens. I'm just happy that something finally did happen." Daniel grinned, and let Jack off the hook. Without warning, Jack sneezed very violently.

"Bless you!" Daniel almost laughed at Jack's indignant look.

"Sir?"

"Colonel. I wasn't aware you were awake." Jack almost jumped hearing Cam's voice. He wondered how much Cam had overheard.

"The sneeze woke me up, Sir."

"How are you feelin?" Jack winced as he said the words. He had hated that question whenever he was stuck in here, and now he was asking it over and over.

"Better than I was."

Jack pulled up a chair and sat with the two men, discussing the recent missions, and helping ease the boredom.

* * *

Sam turned at the knocking on her open door. 

"Whatcha workin on?" Jack bent over to see the monitor.

"I was talking to Siler earlier, and I had an idea."

"Uh oh," Jack mocked.

"He suggested a different approach to the way we currently have the vents positioned for the gas in the gateroom. I didn't propose the idea before, as I was unsure of how exactly the gas would perform, but after hearing your observations, I think this way will be more efficient."

"Oh, and how?"

"Well, you stated that after the gas bombs exploded it took time for the solution to reach the Jaffa and be inhaled. The vent we currently have in the gateroom is only one one side, and not too close to the gate. This could give the Jaffa ample time to get through the event horizon and begin their attack. As the gateroom is so large, I'm concerned that any other air circulation within the room would cause the gas to expand too rapidly and begin to rise, not affecting the Jaffa quickly enough."

"Yeah, and we'd have one hell of a mess to clear up."

"I was thinking about creating some sort of frame around the gate, which could deliver the gas out of several small nozzles within the pipes. This way the gas would be closer to the enemy Jaffa, and should have a quicker result." Sam once again was engrossed in her work, writing notes frantically on a notepad as she spoke. Jack watched her, and decided that it wasn't likely she would want to leave her lab right now, so if he wanted to have lunch with her, he would bring the lunch to her.

* * *

Sam stretched, trying to ease some of the stiffness in her lower back. She had been hunched over her lab table for what felt like hours, making some diagrams on her idea for the frame. Looking at her watch, Sam was surprised at how fast the day had gone. It felt like only an hour or so ago that Jack had arrived bearing lunch, a lot of lunch. It had taken the better part of an hour to try to eat enough food to satisfy him, and she had a sneaking suspicion that that was exactly what his intention had been. 

Now it was 2100 and she was starting to get a small headache from starting at several sheets of paper with mathematical designs drawn on them. Deciding to call it a night, Sam packed up the materials spread over her desk reluctantly. She had hoped to have the completed designs by tomorrow to present to General Landry, but that would require several more hours of work. She could pull an all nighter, but her small nagging headache would probably morph into a major one, and she would get nothing accomplished.

The elevator doors opened to Jack about to walk straight into her.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi." Sam stepped into the elevator.

"You leaving?"

"Yes. Time to call it a night." Jack punched the button for the ground level.

"Good. I was just on my way down to drag you out of here." She hadn't noticed before that he was in jeans and a t-shirt.

"So you're giving me a ride home then?"

"Ya sure ya betcha."

For the rest of the short elevator ride, the walk to Daniel's car, and the drive to Sam's, they discussed what they had done during the day.

"So, you staying at Daniels tonight?" Sam asked as Jack pulled up to her house.

"Don't feel like spending the night on the base."

"Well, did you want to spend the night here?" When Jack raised his eyebrows, Sam felt herself begin to babble. "It's closer to the base, and then you don't have to drive all the way there and back. Plus it's not that late and I have plenty of movies, and I haven't had dinner yet..."

"I accept." Jack interrupted her, seeing she was starting to run out of things to babble about.

Once inside, Jack turned to Sam before she even had her shoes off and kissed her. He had wanted to do that since he had gone to get her from her lab, and couldn't do it in the car as there were others around. Once that was taken care of, Sam started to prepare a late dinner with Jack eagerly trying to help. The dinner was followed by a movie, and Sam fell asleep on Jack's shoulder. When he sneezed violently again, Sam woke, and the two said their goodnights, parting at the guest bedroom.

* * *

Several days later, Jack was back in Washington, Daniel back on his feet, and Sam was busy overseeing her project become reality. With a great deal of help from Siler and various others, the pipe frame around the gate was almost complete. The only thing left to do was connect the main pipe to the old system so the gas could flow through it at the push of a button. As this stage would require shutting down the old system temporarily and the manual iris control, Landry had given her permission to complete it tomorrow. This allowed for the remaining teams off world to return, as they wouldn't want an unexpected incoming wormhole as someone was standing on a ladder in front of the gate. 

Sam listened as the klaxons went off, announcing the unscheduled incoming wormhole, and glanced at Daniel to see if he knew anything about it. He shook his head indicating he didn't know, and Vala watched the interaction between the two. When Daniel had been released from the infirmary, he had gone to visit Vala, and now she seemed reluctant to leave his side. Sam guessed that Vala would rather be hanging around Daniel than having her every step mirrored by an SF. The two were working on finishing the translation on the tablet Vala had brought, and Sam had stopped by to ask Daniel a question.

"Isn't Teal'c due back today?" An urgent voice calling over the intercom for a medical team to the gateroom started to worry Sam.

"Yes, but I thought it would be later on tonight." Daniel stood up and made for the door, Sam and Vala close behind.

"Who else is off world?" Sam knew it wasn't many teams as the General wanted them to be on the base when the upgrade was to occur.

"Uh, Bosco's out with SG-3, SG-17 and SG-26. I think that's all."

The three took the elevator down to level 28, but when they exited the corridor was blocked off by the blast doors. Taking another route they once again ran into a dead end. Daniel and Sam both tried their swipe cards to override the controls on the door, but it had no effect. Whoever had closed the doors had done it from the control room with higher security than both of them. Sam coughed as a fine mist sprinkled down upon them, and realised it was the gas. She looked in horror at Daniel, knowing what this meant.

In less than five minutes the blast doors opened after an announcement by General Landry stating that the situation had been neutralised. Still Sam and Daniel continued to the gateroom cautiously. Once there, Daniel spotted the four dead Jaffa, while Sam pointed out several scorch marks from the staff weapons dotting the walls. Vala pushed past both of them to get a better view, but shied behind Daniel when General Landry approached.

"Sir, what happened?" Sam tried to focus on Landry rather than the Jaffa lying motionless at the end of the ramp.

"When SG-3 sent their iris code, we assumed the five travellers were the members of the team. Instead we got the four Jaffa and Bosco."

"Bosco!" Daniel started looking around the gateroom for him.

"He's already in the infirmary."

"What about SG-1?" Sam stated, hoping that they hadn't been captured as it was starting to seem all to familiar.

"As soon as we're able we'll dial the planet and send a MALP through..." General Landry was cut off as the gate began to dial. He looked up at the control room and Walter announced that they were receiving an incoming wormhole. "Close the iris, get the blast doors closed, everyone out." General Landry ordered as he ushered Sam, Vala and Daniel out of the gateroom. Taking a different corridor they entered the gateroom and watched the reflection of the wormhole form behind the closed iris on the monitors.

"This is Colonel Reynolds of SG-3 requesting permission to return."

"Colonel, what happened?" General Landry did not give the order to open the iris.

"Some sort of shield, Sir. After we dialled Earth the first time and sent through our IDC a force shield rose, trapping us at the base of the gate. Bosco was outside the field by the DHD and was dragged through the wormhole by four Jaffa."

"Sir, we are unable to establish any communication with the MALP." Walter informed Landry.

"Colonel, I need you to dial the Alpha site and proceed there. Once you have been cleared you may return to Earth."

"Yes Sir. Reynolds out."

"Dr. Carter, I want this new system up and running as soon as possible."

"Yes Sir." Sam had to fight the urge to salute General Landry as he swept up the stairs to his office, most likely to place a call to another certain General about the recent occurrence.

"So Sam, long night ahead?" Daniel started out of the gateroom, Vala in tow.

"I guess. I'd like to know what happened out there. Why weren't there more Jaffa? Why did only four of them try to come here?"

"Well, if Ba'al has anything to do with it, he knows about our iris. I too though wonder what he could be thinking of accomplishing with only four Jaffa."

"Perhaps he wasn't trying to accomplish anything." Vala commented airily.

"You mean like a distraction?" Sam was still trying to see how that would further whatever plan Ba'al would have.

"Something like that. You don't always know what a goa'uld is up to until it's too late."

"So far that's never happened." Sam felt her defenses go up at Vala's statement. They had not lost to a goa'uld yet, and now wasn't the time to start.

"Knock on wood." Daniel wasn't superstitious, but Vala's comment had placed a small piece of dread inside him. What were the goa'uld up to and how were they going to find out?

_AN: This was supposed to be a short filler chapter until the next longer one. Apparently that was not to be. What do you think? Any guesses on where this is going? How do you like the Sam/Jack bits? I always love feedback, and so far everyone has been great with suggestions, guesses and comments. Muchly appreciated as always._


	8. Chapter 8

It had been almost midday when Sam finally went to bed. It had taken much longer than she originally anticipated to get the new system set up, and working. Not wanting to do a test with what little gas they had on base, Sam had suggested Helium which acted in a similar way. The new system had worked perfectly, and all the technicians and several SF's had spent several minutes speaking in high pitched voices as they discussed their success.

Sam only slept for four hours, not wanting to wake up after supper then spend the entire night wide awake. Her second stop after hitting the showers, was to get coffee, and she met Daniel on the way.

"Here Sam. Grabbed you a cup."

"Thanks Daniel." Sam took the offered cup of coffee and carefully sipped the steaming liquid.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Took longer than I thought it would, but I'm pleased with the result. The only thing I don't like, is that we'd have to wait for another situation like yesterday to see how effective it is."

"I'm sure it'll work fine. You are the one who came up with this thing!" Daniel nudged Sam in a reassuring and friendly way, mindful of the hot coffee in her hands.

"Thanks. So what's the news on Cam and Bosco?"

"Cam's been awake most of the day. Dr. Lam is talking about releasing him in a week if he continues to improve. Bosco should be out by tonight. The Jaffa didn't really do that much to him. No broken bones, a couple of bruises, and a concussion."

"And you?"

"Me? I'm fine." Daniel smiled at Sam after noticing her glare.

"So the only member of SG-1 who's up for a mission right now is Teal'c. What's Landry doing?"

"Teal'c volunteered to join some of the other SG Teams that are missing members. There's still four in the infirmary besides Cam and Bosco. That way the mission schedule doesn't get too far behind. Landry wants to try and recover whatever device it was that prevented SG-3 from returning."

"What about the plant that Dr. Lee and Vikki are working on?"

"Dr. Lee wants to go back to the planet where Teal'c and I were found. See if we can extract the plant." Daniel rubbed his hand over his forehead, not too happy with Dr. Lee's request.

"What! There's Jaffa there! They can't seriously be considering..."

"Landry wants to send a UAV through before any further plans are made. I hate to say this, but I'm glad I'm not permitted off world. That's the last place I want to go to again." Sam understood Daniel as there were planets she never wanted to visit again.

"You talked to Jack today?"

"For a few minutes. He wanted to get down here once he heard what happened. He wanted to talk to you but once I explained you were probably sleeping he asked that you give him a call later."

"Thanks, Daniel. I'll call him when I get back to the lab. Did you and Vala finish the translation?"

"Yes. It's what Vala said, treasure."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's what Vala thinks. I doubt it's gold and other riches, more like Ancient technology."

"Where is it? Does it say?" Sam's eyes shone with anticipation.

"Not exactly. There's a name, Myrddin, that I need to do a little research on. I stopped before I got another pounding headache."

"Are you ok?" Sam's eagerness to find the technology was replaced by concern.

"It's not as bad as the others were. Just a side effect from the concussion. Dr. Lam said I might have them for a week or so. Once they quit, I'm back on active duty again."

"Where's Vala?"

"In her room probably. We had a, uh, small argument."

"About what?"

"The treasure. She's positive it's gold and wants half. I got a little frustrated when I explained that the Ancients version of treasure is most likely technology and not what she expects."

"Ah. So what do you think will happen with her?"

"I don't know. She might want to stay on Earth, but if we find this Ancient treasure, she might leave. Too early to tell yet."

"If she stays on Earth, what will she do? No offense to Vala, but I can't see her being a part of the SGC."

"No, she'd have to stop that habit of lying first."

"Yeah. Anyways, thanks for the coffee, Daniel, but I'm going to call Jack now."

"See ya later, Sam."

* * *

The next week passed in a blur for Sam. One of the SG Teams had recovered one of the devices used to create the shield that stopped SG-3 from returning to the base. It was a unique design, not one she'd seen before. When the team had dug the object up, they had damaged it, and Sam could not get it to work properly. She'd managed to get it to send out green sparks along with lots of bright white light, but not much else. Wherever the goa'uld had discovered these, it was not like anything they had before.

Sam glanced at the clock and grinned. In one hour she would be leaving and had to go get groceries before picking Jack up at the airport. They were planning on spending the next 3 days together before he flew back to D.C. and didn't want to waste a second of that time. Unsure as to whether or not Jack had told the others that he was coming, Sam had been very vague about her plans for the weekend, and fortunately no one had questioned her further.

Cam was being allowed to go home the following day. He had recovered quickly but Dr. Lam refused to allow him to leave the base unless someone stayed with him. Teal'c, the kind soul that he was, had volunteered immediately, and had made the arrangement with Dr. Lam. Cam wouldn't have cared if it was Felger who he stayed with, as long as he was out of the infirmary. He wouldn't be on active duty for at least another 3 weeks yet.

Daniel was back on the mission rotation, going off world with teams that were still a member or two short. Currently he was out with SG-11 where a cave full of carvings had been found, along with another shield generator by the gate. Sam hoped that with Daniel there, this device would make it to the SGC in one working piece.

Vala was undergoing various interviews the past week, and was currently talking to Mr. Woolsey. She had told Daniel that she knew of a few planets with Stargates that the SGC had yet to visit, and none of them had any current goa'uld claiming them as theirs. She had given several of the addresses to Daniel after some coaxing, and in return, Daniel had pleaded with General Landry to begin the process of loosening her restriction. Sam hoped that soon Vala would be able to roam most of the base without always having to have an escort.

Dr. Lee rushed in, followed swiftly by Vikki, startling Sam out of her train of thoughts.

"Dr. Carter. It's gone." Dr. Lee was breathless, and spluttered the words out.

"What's gone?"

"The plant."

"The one in England? The cactus thing?" Sam looked sceptically at Dr. Lee.

"Yes."

"How?"

"We don't know!"

"Well, that house is on a main road, and the plant isn't exactly hidden from view. Are you suggesting that someone stole it from the front garden?"

"We've got pictures of the area, and it must've happened during the night." Vikki, much calmer than Dr. Lee, handed several photos to Sam.

"Ok, so it's there then it isn't. Where did it go?"

"From these pictures we can see that the area around the base of where the cactus used to be, isn't disturbed. It's like the cactus was never there in the first place." Vikki pointed to one particular picture, which Sam examined closely. If someone had removed the plant, the grass surrounding the area would be disturbed, and a whole in the soil would've been present. Vikki was right, underneath where the cactus one stood, was now a perfectly manicured piece of lawn.

"Did someone go check it out personally or do we only have these pictures?" Sam flipped through the photos again.

"We've got someone there, but they're having problems getting on the land." Dr. Lee spoke again, not quite so out of breath this time.

"What kind of problems?"

"Apparently the house is for sale now, and the real estate agent won't let anyone anywhere near until tomorrow when they show the house off."

"Do we have someone to go take a look then?"

"Yes. He'll be there all night, making sure nothing else happens."

"Good. Thanks guys."

"Er, Sam, weren't you supposed to leave half an hour ago?" At Vikki's question, Sam's eyes flickered to the clock, and she swore under her breath. She wouldn't have enough time to go grocery shopping now, and there was not much edible food left in her house as she hadn't been home all week. Trying to tidy up the desk without sending piles of papers scattering over the floor, Vikki stepped in, and told Sam she would take care of it. Giving her a grateful smile, Sam grabbed her jacket, and hurried for the elevator.

* * *

"Hi."

"Hi, Jack." Sam kissed him before he could say anything else. He was surprised at first, but only for a fraction of a second. It was only a quick kiss, but it was the first they had shared out in public, and the airport arrivals area definitely counted as public.

"Well, that was the best arrival at this airport for me. You?" Sam mockingly swatted Jack's shoulder and bent to grab his bag. "Nu uh, I got it. So, what's planned for tonight?" Jack slung his free arm around Sam's shoulders, and pulled her against him as they walked to her car.

"Uh, didn't really plan anything. I just gotta make a quick stop before we go home."

"Not the base."

"No, done for a few days, unless there's an emergency. I need to get some groceries."

"Ah." Jack had guessed that Sam hadn't been home much in the past week. She had been busy with the new shields and the install of the metal frame around the gate.

They discussed the news of the cactus until they got to the grocery store. Once inside, Jack made a beeline for the shopping carts. Sam watched as he grabbed a cart, pushed it a few feet, then grabbed another.

"Hey, I can't stand the ones that have the funky wheel. Makes you ram into things like you can't drive." Sam giggled as he tested several more, finally finding one that suited his standards.

"You good now?"

"Yup."

Jack insisted on pushing the cart, and Sam had to grab the end to go down the produce isle.

"C'mon Sam, it's the weekend. None of this healthy stuff."

"So what would you be eating all weekend then if you weren't here? Steak and beer?" Sam ignored his good natured whining and started placing salad fixings in the cart.

"Ya sure, ya betcha." Sam rolled her eyes, and steered the cart down the next isle.

Shopping with Jack was like shopping with a child, Sam thought. When she turned around, he would grab something off the shelf, and sometimes quietly place it in the cart. There was no way he could possibly eat all that junk food he wanted in the weekend, so Sam was continually placing things back on the shelves. It was all done in good humour on both parts, and she did allow him to keep several items in the cart: Chips and Jello, amongst them. At the checkout Sam noticed several other items that had escaped her attention. Glaring at Jack as he placed the cake mix and can of frosting on the belt, he grinned then began to laugh.

"I hope you're going to eat all of that this weekend." Sam waved her hand at the array of junk food that Jack had collected.

"Oh, I will."

"And I'm not making cake."

"Hey, I can do it, you know. It's not hard, just follow the instructions, right?" Jack hoped he wasn't oversimplifying the procedure.

"Ok, I'll alert the fire department, let them know you're baking." Jack leaned in to give Sam a kiss, but was interrupted by the polite cough from the cashier. Sam blushed and fumbled with her wallet.

"Can we make one more quick stop before heading to your place?" Jack asked as they loaded up Sam's car.

"Sure. Where?"

"Liquor store. I'm guessing you don't have any beer at your place."

"Uh, sure. I guess so, and no, I don't have any at my house. You drank what I had last time." Sam hesitated slightly before answering, but Jack didn't pick up on it.

* * *

It was 1900 when they finally arrived at Sam's house and unloaded the groceries. Sam put what they had bought away, while Jack dropped his suitcase off in the spare room. When he wandered into the kitchen, Sam was starting dinner, something chicken if he remembered what she had said. He stepped behind her and placed his hands around her waist, dropping his head to rest on her shoulder. Sam stirred the contents of the pan a few times, before covering it with a lid, turning down the heat on the stove, and turned in his arms to face him.

"So..."

"Half an hour before it's ready." Sam's arms encircled his neck, pulling his forehead down to rest on hers.

"Oh, so now what?" Jack didn't want to move, interrupt the moment, but Sam had different ideas. She moved her lips up to his, and kissed him with more passion than she had done before. As her lips parted with his, enticing him to explore her mouth, Jack's hands moved from her waist and up her back, encouraging her.

Sam was the one to break the kiss, laughing as Jack's stomach reminded them what they were supposed to be doing in the kitchen. She moved towards the fridge and started taking out the items for a salad. Jack reached over the fridge door, and pulled a beer out, and after offering to help, he took a seat at the table, content in watching Sam.

After a very filling dinner the two curled up on the couch, Jack channel surfing, Sam sitting next to him reading. Finding a channel with the Simpsons on, Jack placed the remote on the table, and placed his arm around Sam's shoulders. He pulled her towards him, and found no resistance. He was sitting slightly sideways, Sam's head half resting on his chest, still reading. Without knowing what he was doing, Jack's one hand began tracing random designs on her arm.

Sam was tired. She'd only had a few hours of sleep the night before, and after eating a great meal, and now relaxing on the couch, she felt her eyelids start to drop. Knowing she should probably excuse herself and go to bed, she was reluctant to leave as she was comfortable lying on his chest. It didn't take long before his fingers tracing the skin on her arm, and the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat lulled her to sleep.

* * *

Sam woke early as was her habit, and was slightly disorientated for a few seconds, until she felt Jack's arms tighten around her. Without waking him, she got up, showered, and started breakfast. Once the coffee was ready she woke him, kissing him over the side of the couch.

They spent the day together, working on her car, and taking care of some of the yard work. Sam had protested at first when Jack pulled out the ancient mower and started mowing the lawn, but he had insisted. It had taken them 2 hrs to mow the front and back lawns as the mower broke down several times. As the sun set, Sam concluded that the day was spent well. She had been sceptical when Jack suggested that they spend the day at her house, but now realised that by doing several chores in his company had been the most relaxing day she had had in months.

Not wanting to cook, Sam suggested they go out for dinner, and after they showered and changed, they drove around, picking a restaurant that took their fancy. It was late when they returned to her house, and hiding a yawn, Sam indicated that she was heading to bed. After changing into her pj's Sam headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and heard Jack coming up the stairs. When she opened the door he was standing outside the guest bedroom in sweets and a t-shirt. He moved to give her a goodnight kiss, but instead she took his hand and led him into her room. Wordlessly she threw back the duvet and climbed in. Jack, still holding her hand, followed suit. Sam rolled over and turned off the lamp by the bed, and Jack placed his arm around her waist. Both fell asleep knowing that they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

_AN: So sorry about the wait. I knew where I wanted the story to go, but not how to write the two chapters that come before that. As always, reviews and feedback are appreciated._


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